


Bat-Mite and Lady Gothika vs Dracula

by PerkyGoth14



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Dracula - Bram Stoker
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:14:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22179886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerkyGoth14/pseuds/PerkyGoth14
Summary: Based on the 2004 cartoon series of The Batman. Cherry and Lionel pay Bruce Wayne a usual visit to Gotham City. While there, a mysterious stranger lurks around the city who appears to be an actual blood-sucking demon who we all know best as Count Dracula. It's up to the Bat-Family to stop him as things look more grim than usual for the dark and desolate city of the night.
Relationships: Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**_(The first of the four stories based in the 2004 "The Batman" universe, featuring Benjamin Diskin as Bat-Mite/Lionel Schwartz and Cree Summer as Lady Gothika/Cherry Butler.) from Scrappy Doo Fan_ **

It was a rainy night in Gotham City, and Batman had spotted the Joker making a break for it, nearly throwing a Batarang at his head.

"Don't get caught in the rain without your straitjacket." Batman remarked.

"Or at least a psycho-proof poncho. Besides, everyone knows umbrellas are Penguin's shtick!" Bat-Mite added.

"Batsy... Mite... Baby Bat..." The Joker grinned to the trio who emerged from the darkness. "You're such cards!" he then took out some cards before flinging them at the trio.

Batman soon punched them away into a murky puddle as the Joker ran away after flinging his cards.

"He can't run too far." Lady Gothika said to Batman and Bat-Mite as they began the chase.

"Yeah, we'll head him off at the pass!" Bat-Mite agreed as they ran behind. "And THAT'S when we'll have him trapped like a rat!"

"Let's go then," Lady Gothika grinned. "I could use some excitement."

"Will do, oh, Mistress of the Dark." Bat-Mite bowed before taking off.

Lady Gothika nodded as she ran with him and Batman after the Joker. The Joker laughed before tossing a bomb at them to slow them down. Bat-Mite turned his hand into a baseball bat and slapped the bomb right back. The Joker soon hopped down from the bridge from the explosion, but the trio just kept on charging through the smoke to pursue him.

"This is insane..." Bat-Mite panted. "He's like some kinda crazy clown monkey-man or something...!"

"He seems to be a bit more hyper than usual tonight." Lady Gothika commented.

"I wonder why," Bat-Mite replied. "But I'm not curious or stupid enough to ask him myself..."

The rain seemed to pour down a little heavier as they continued to chase after the Joker. The Joker ran through a tunnel only to be face-to-face with Batman. The two glared at each other before Batman began to pummel the Joker.

But Joker took out two cards and slashed at Batman, only tearing through his chest emblem. "This time I'm out for blood, Batsy..." he grinned evilly, holding the cards like six-shooters.

"Not as long as I'm here!" Lady Gothika glared as she jumped on his back.

Joker yelped out. "Get off me, you little-!" he grunted as he stumbled around to try and dislodge her.

Lady Gothika still held on. The Joker glared to her and tried to slam her off by running backward into the wall, but as soon as he did, she got off in time to make him hurt himself instead. He let out a grunt of pain at that, but shook it off before he was about to lunge at her. Before he could even get a running start, Lady Gothika shot him a piercing red-eyed glare which seemed to make him come to a halt. His arms dangled at his sides, his eyes developed a glassy, faraway glint, and he seemed...entranced.

"Gothy...?" Batman muttered slightly.

Lady Gothika glared right at the Joker with her darkened stare.

"I think you might've hypnotized him..." Bat-Mite stated, before he blushed under his mask. "Lucky bastard..."

"Mm-hmm... I've been working on it..." Lady Gothika said after a while before smirking darkly. "Now he's mine to control."

"Once again, lucky bastard..." Bat-Mite muttered. "Wish that was ME getting hypnotized by her..."

"Hmm... What should I do with ya, Mr. J?" Lady Gothika smirked to the sadistic clown. "What to do? What to do?~"

The clown stood firm, but began to twitch slightly.

"Mm..." Lady Gothika smirked. "I'm a little thirsty..."

"Gothy, no!" Batman cried out.

At that point, Joker regained control of himself. "I don't know what you just did..." he grunted. "But you won't get a second chance!"

Before he could lunge at her, Bat-Mite delivered a spin-kick that sent him flying into a wall.

"Thanks a lot, Uncle Bats~" Lady Gothika complained.

Joker grunted before glaring at all of them.

"Well, you're welcome..." Bat-Mite grumbled. "What happened to gratitude?"

As he grumbled, Batman approached the fallen clown. "Show's over, Joker." he remarked.

The Joker soon grinned. "The show must go on!" he then retorted, going to stab him with a pick, but soon stumbled to the ledge, about to fall off the bridge.

The others came once he fell and looked to the end as he held onto a ledge to keep himself from falling.

"You wouldn't leave your pal hanging now, would you?" Joker grinned innocently, holding out his hand.

Batman looked down to him and soon began to reach out to help him back up, but before he could grab it, he noticed the joy zapper in Joker's palm, and drew back.

"Almost had ya, didn't I?" Joker asked as he let go of the bridge. "Bye-Bye, Batsy!"

And he cackled with glee, until he realized that the joy zapper was still active, and he plummeted into the river. Seconds after, he let out a scream of pure agony as the joy buzzer electrocuted him to death.

Lady Gothika looked between Batman and Bat-Mite in a bit of shock and horror. "Good God..." she then muttered to herself.

"Holy shit... He's DEAD!" Bat-Mite gaped in horror. "I knew he was crazy, but I didn't think he'd go _that_ far..."

Batman soon bowed his head for a moment of silence.

Bat-Mite sighed. "Let's go... Maybe I can test out that new ability of yours..."

"Um... All right," Lady Gothika told him. "A lot to take in though... The Joker dying and all."

"Let's get you two out of the rain." Batman suggested.

"Um... All right," Lady Gothika told him. "A lot to take in though... The Joker dying and all."

"Let's get you two out of the rain." Batman suggested.

"Good idea..." Bat-Mite replied, and after summoning the Batmobile, they headed back to the Batcave.

Lady Gothika put on her favorite hooded sweatshirt to keep warm.

* * *

They soon came back home and Alfred approached them once they pulled up. Batman appeared to still have a lot on his mind with what became of his arch-nemesis.

Alfred approached and saw the rip on Bruce's chest. "I shall darn that immediately, sir." he stated.

Batman didn't even respond.

"Sir?" Alfred continued to speak. "You are brooding... More-so than usual."

"Alfred... Tonight, Joker met his demise." Bruce said as he took off his mask.

Alfred's eyes went wide. "And our friend Cobblepot...?" he asked.

"Penguin's trail went completely cold..." Bruce replied.

* * *

After a while, Cherry and Lionel met up in her room to test something out.

"Okay, ready?" Cherry asked Lionel once they were alone together.

"As I'll ever be!" Lionel nodded.

Cherry nodded back before sliding off her glasses and gave Lionel a sharp stare which was like Atticus's stare whenever he wanted to get someone to do something for him, which he borrowed from Fluttershy. Lionel's irises became a red color before his arms dropped to their sides, and he had a thin trail of drool coming from his mouth.

"Lionel... Can you hear me...?" Cherry asked him.

Lionel nodded stiffly. "I hear you... Mistress of the night..." he stated.

"Hmm..." Cherry paused with a small smirk. "Uh... Clean up my closet." she then commanded.

Lionel nodded, and snapped his fingers, putting everything in the closet back in its proper places: folded clothes, put-away jackets, and cleared floor; you get the idea.

Cherry leaned back against her bed with a small smirk and put her hands behind her head. "After that, do a little dusting if you don't care," she said with a light chuckle. "Maybe vacuum the floor real quick."

"Of course..." Lionel replied as he snapped his fingers again, poofing in a vacuum cleaner which quickly went across the floor, while another snap summoned a duster which swept off the thin layer of dust that covered everything. He then proceeded to quickly dispose of the dust with another snap of the fingers, causing it to disintegrate.

"Hmm... This isn't so bad," Cherry commented to herself. "I guess I could get used to this."

Finally, Lionel finished cleaning. "It is done, mi'lady." he stated as he took a bow.

"Aw, thank you, excellent!" Cherry beamed once her chores were done before looking into his eyes again. "You are now... Released!"

Suddenly, Lionel blinked as his eyes returned to normal. "Whoa... What happened t' me...?" he asked curiously.

"Uh... Nothing important?" Cherry looked away innocently. "I was just making sure that my hypnotism worked okay."

"Oh. Well, I guess there's nothing wrong with THAT," Lionel replied. "My greatest fantasy; and I couldn't even be aware I experienced it..."

"Heh... Sorry about that," Cherry said. "Hypnotism can be a headache sometimes when you're fallen victim into it. I'm still getting used to it myself, I wasn't very good with it in school though."

"Well, judging from how I can't remember a thing before just now, I'd say you're really improving!" Lionel replied. "Not to mention the fact you have hypnotizing powers is a huge turn-on..." he muttered under his breath.

"It is...?" Cherry raised an eyebrow.

"...Yeah." Lionel's face went even redder than a tomato field.

"I guess you like powerful women," Cherry smirked to that. "In my dream world, I am a Queen~"

"Pretty much..." Lionel replied.

"It's a special world I call Cinda Pinda~" Cherry smirked. "I even have my own song."

"Cinda Pinda?" Lionel scratched his head. "Hmm... Alright. First you had my attention, but now you have my curiosity."

Some dramatic music soon began to play at first.

"Shouldn't there be a place where nothing is naughty?, Shouldn't there be a place where anything goes?, Where "shouldn't," and "can't," and "don't," and "mustn't," and "ought," evaporate, And fun's the only biz, Guess what, there is!~" Cherry began to sing before getting energetic as the music grew upbeat and campy like in a Disney musical. "Cinda Pinda... Cinda Pinda... It's that what's for supper, Candy, Cake and Pie-Land, Who needs algebra? I don't need it! Who wants chores? I don't want it!, And you'll never have a lesson, or a chore to do, Rules and Limits, (Kiss!) Kiss Goodbye land, (Mwah!) Cinda Pinda welcomes you!~"

Lionel gasped in surprise. "That... Was... AMAZING!" he gushed.

Cherry looked bashful in response to that.

"I was NOT expecting that, but I loved it anyway," Lionel continued. "Almost as much as I love _you_ , my dark queen."

Cherry soon blushed from that as she cupped her mouth, though bashful.

"And by the way, I mean it." Lionel replied as he headed off down the hall with a cheerful mood.

Cherry looked to him and let him go off as she soon sat back on her bed.

* * *

Lionel flopped into his bed with a smile. "Heh... Dark queen..." he muttered. "She'd be awesome at that..."

Bruce sighed as he wandered down the hallways, still having a hard time accepting the death of the Joker even though they were bitter enemies. Lionel, feeling a little tired, dozed off, and began to dream again.


	2. Chapter 2

Upon waking up, Lionel noticed that Wayne Manor looked different, more gothic and dark. "Looks like Bruce did some redecorating while I was snoozing..." Lionel remarked with a shrug. "Might as well go see where everyone is."

Creepy organ music seemed to play as he traveled along.

"Wow... Did Bruce buy a pipe organ?" Lionel asked himself. "Or maybe that's always been here." he then did an Adam West impression. "Lucky for me, I learned how to play the pipe organ!" he then chuckled at his own little gag.

Cherry appeared to be at the pipe organ and she looked a little more gothic than usual. She never dressed like a real goth before, but this time, she was paler than usual and had dark circles under her eyes and appeared to wear a black and red dress with opera gloves, black heels, and her hair was styled almost in a Lily Munster fashion.

"Hey, Cherry!" Lionel called out. "Did you know we had a pipe organ here? Wonder how we missed THAT detail for so long..."

"Yes... I know..." Cherry said as she turned to him, sounding very dark and dreary.

"By the by, something seems... Different about you..." Lionel stated. "Dunno what, exactly..."

"I'm not sure what you could mean," Cherry said. "I'm just filling this empty vessel of this pointless void we call life until my time eventually comes."

Lionel winced. "Wow, gloomy much? Seriously though, that dress looks amazing on you." he stated.

"I guess so..." Cherry let out a sharp sigh.

"You want some company...?" Lionel asked.

"What's the point of anything?" Cherry replied as she trudged down the hallway. "Everything is pointless."

"Hoo boy... I _must_ be in a nightmare..." Lionel commented. "Hang on... Lemme try something..." he closed his eyes, concentrated, and held his breath.

* * *

When he opened his eyes, he was in front of a large gothic-looking castle.

"Alright, now _this_ is more like it..." Lionel muttered to himself as he went inside.

As he entered the main room, he saw Cherry, except clad in black-and-red vampiric robes, sitting atop a throne with a large snarling bat head carved into the top.

"Boy, is it good to see a familiar mug around here." Lionel remarked as he headed towards Cherry; until he was stopped by two fierce-looking guards.

"Nobody approaches the Vampire Queen unless _she_ says it's alright!" One guard remarked, grabbing Lionel by his neck. Lionel flailed as best as he could in the guard's meaty grasp, but he was growing tired.

"Get lost, reject!" The other guard glared.

Lionel tried to utter a response, but with his windpipe being crushed, there wasn't much he could do or say.

The two guards glanced at Cherry. "Whaddya think we should do with him, Your Highness?" they asked.

Cherry narrowed her eyes towards Lionel for a moment. "I wish to be amused or entranced... Let him show me what he can do." she soon demanded.

The two guards then shrugged, before throwing Lionel to the ground. He coughed and hacked, before inhaling gracious gasps of air.

"Oh... Thank you...!" he wheezed. "Now... You said... Something about being amused... Right?"

"Do something worth my time that will emit a positive emotion from me." Cherry commanded.

Lionel pondered. "Alright then..." he wiggled his fingers, and suddenly a large boulder appeared above him before crashing down on top of his body.

Cherry watched that before she let out a small snort. Something about seeing the pain of others always amused her.

Lionel pulled himself out from under the boulder, battered and beaten. "Oh... You liked that, eh? Well, I got plenty more where THAT came from!" he replied, before he snapped his fingers, and was attacked by piranhas that ripped away at him, leaving him as a still-living skeleton. "Ta-da..." he grunted as he stood back up.

"Hm..." Cherry gave a quiet hum.

The guards came to Lionel since that seemed to fail.

"Keep going." Cherry said, making them stop where they were.

Lionel pondered, before he snapped his fingers, and a crane drove up before slamming him with the wrecking ball, knocking him all over the place like a pinball before he hit the ground, and a steamroller flattened him. Cherry began to snicker and vocally laugh out of amusement.

Lionel pulled himself to his feet, his steps shivering. "So, whaddya think...?" he managed to ask.

Cherry was still heard laughing as she sounded like she had the best time ever. The guards looked to her.

"He shall live!" Cherry proclaimed.

Lionel gave a tired smile. "Thank you, Your Highness. That's what I was hoping for. Now, I'm in great pain, so I'm gonna pass out for a little bit." he explained casually, before faceplanting on the floor.

Cherry gave a small smirk to him as the guards left the two of them alone. Lionel wheezed and panted after falling over, despite having passed out.

"Such a strange creature..." Cherry mused, stepping down and glancing at him.

Lionel was flat on the floor as Cherry soon bent down and picked him up. Lionel grunted a little after being lifted up. Cherry soon let him lay down in her bed as she looked down at him, like she was studying him. Lionel shifted slightly in Cherry's bed, before opening his eyes.

"Hey, there..." Cherry said to him. "You're not gonna die, are ya?"

"No..." Lionel replied. "I was just a little banged-up that's all..."

"Well... Thank you for the laughs... I haven't laughed that hard in a long time..." Cherry said to him.

"Hey, it was no trouble," Lionel blushed. "I aim to please."

"You succeed." Cherry smirked to him.

Lionel rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Aw, shucks. So, vampire queen, huh? What happened to the king?" he asked.

"I'm afraid there's no king around unless I decide to take one in," Cherry replied ominously. "I'm here on my own."

"Well..." Lionel replied. "I got nothing on my itinerary. Maybe... I could?"

"I suppose it depends on how worthy you are," Cherry said to him. "How badly would you like to become my Vampire King?"

"I've never wanted anything so badly in my entire life." Lionel replied.

"Well... You are one of the more interesting ones I've ever met..." Cherry said to him. "Everyone else was kinda boring."

"Ah, thanks..." Lionel replied.

"Yeah, you made me laugh on purpose." Cherry smirked.

"Yeah... I'm pretty good at that." Lionel replied.

"I wish I was interesting." Cherry soon had a small pout.

"Hey, you're plenty interesting," Lionel replied. "You just don't realize it yet. But I'd be happy to help."

"Well, that would be nice," Cherry said to him. "I could use some company that doesn't make me sick or annoy me."

"Okay then, it's settled!" Lionel smiled.

"Make yourself at home," Cherry said. "Tell me... Are you hungry?"

"I suppose I could eat," Lionel shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

"It's about time for me to munch on something." Cherry said as she hopped off of her bedpost.

"Sounds good to me," Lionel replied as he followed her. "What's on the menu?"

"Ooh, something rather succulent..." Cherry smirked. "You'll just have to wait and see~"

"Ooh, sounds great!" Lionel replied.

"Yes... It's sure to be an amazing feast." Cherry smirked to him.

"Alright, cautiously excited!" Lionel nodded.

Cherry had a rather large, almost Cheshire Cat-like grin to that as her teeth seemed to sparkle.

Lionel blinked. "Y'know, your teeth are _real_ shiny. You must be great with your dental hygiene." he commented.

"You could say that..." Cherry smirked. "Let's just say I really value these chompers."

"That's good," Lionel replied. "I can relate."

* * *

Cherry smirked to him as she took him into the dining room which looked rather elegant and old-fashioned.

"Whoa, swanky!" Lionel remarked. "This is some choice decór!"

"Yes, it's one of my favorites, thank you." Cherry smirked, approving of his approval.

"No problem!" Lionel replied as he went and sat in one of the chairs.

Cherry came to make sure he was comfortable, rubbing his shoulders a bit.

"Oh... Thanks..." Lionel shuddered comfortably as he slid down in his seat a little.

Cherry smirked to him as she watched him. A butler who looked a lot like Alfred himself soon came in with a glass for Lionel, offering him a drink.

"Hey, thanks!" Lionel replied as he took the drink and took a sip.

Cherry and the butler stood by his sides. The drink soon seemed to make Lionel black out as his head hit the table suddenly. Lionel let out a low moan after he blacked out. Cherry soon brought out razor-sharp fangs and came up to Lionel as she grabbed his head and leaned in, growling a bit and dug her fangs into his neck to taste his blood.

Lionel twitched a little, but he didn't wake up from that. Cherry continued to feed from him, though unlike most victims, she did not kill him. The butler watched casually as Cherry continued her feeding, and two small fangs began to grow in Lionel's mouth. Cherry soon wiped her mouth after feeding on Lionel and sat in her chair, holding her stomach like she had eaten a big meal.

Lionel soon woke up. "...Must've dozed off. When's the food coming?" he asked.

"In due time... Just had to freshen up a bit..." Cherry said before giving a nod to her butler who nodded back and went into the kitchen.

"Oh, cool." Lionel replied.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy dinner..." Cherry grinned. "It's almost... To die for..."

"Hmm... A little odd," Lionel replied. "But it's probably nothing."

"I hope you enjoy your stay," Cherry smirked. "Just please... Be... Our... Guest~"

Lionel giggled at that. "Thanks. And I'm gonna try and be the best Vampire King I can be!"

"I just know that you will," Cherry said to him. "I am a rather proud Vampire Queen myself."

"And a beautiful one, too!" Lionel added. "So how would I go about becoming a vampire king?"

"Well, you would stay here with me... Occasionally have guests... Protect the castle..." Cherry replied. "Feast on those with delicious blood within their souls."

"Interesting!" Lionel nodded. "I think I can do that!"

Cherry grinned to him. "And you are now a creature of the night alongside me."

"Ooh, interesting!" Lionel beamed.

"Yes..." Cherry replied. "You should know one important thing."

"What's that?" Lionel asked.

"If the person who turned you into a vampire is killed, you will go along with them, and when a vampire dies, they go straight to Hell." Cherry cautioned him.

Lionel shuddered. "Oh... That's good advice. So I need to make sure whoever bit me doesn't die!" he remarked. "Whoever they are, I'll protect them with my life!"

"I'm sure they appreciate the offer and vow you've made." Cherry smirked to him.

"Well, no matter what, I'd be loyal to them for the rest of my immortal life!" Lionel vowed.

"Thatta boy." Cherry narrowed her eyes with a dark smirk.

"But still, I wonder who it was?" Lionel asked. "I'd like to meet them myself..."

"They might be closer than you think." Cherry hinted with slightly shifty eyes.

"Really now?" Lionel asked her.

Cherry soon smirked, showing her fangs.

"It was _you_...?" Lionel asked.

"Guilty~" Cherry grinned.

Lionel blushed. "Figures... Well, I meant it when I said all that stuff about staying loyal and protecting the one who bit me with my life." he replied.

"I can tell," Cherry smirked. "You're really not like the others."

"Thanks," Lionel replied. "And I'm gonna be the best Vampire King I can be."

"I know you will." Cherry told him, patting him on the head.

Soon, a feast was brought to the two and they began to eat the dinner which was like a roast chicken with plenty of other foods like vegetables.

"Hey... This is a pretty good spread!" Lionel commented in between bites.

"I thought you might like it," Cherry said. "It's not often I receive visitors here... Let alone offer them... Hospitality."

"Oh. Well... First time for anything!" Lionel replied, until he felt a shaking around him.

* * *

In the real world, Lionel woke up. "Huh? Whuh? Wu'zgoin on...?" he mumbled.

"You were muttering in your sleep," Cherry replied, standing nearby. "Something about a, and I quote, 'sexy vampire queen', unquote."

Lionel coughed. "Is that right? Well.. People talk in their sleep all the time. Rarely means anything!" he replied with a blush that covered his entire face. "Sides, it's not like I was referring to _you_ or anything!" he replied with a nonchalant whistle.

"Uh-huh..." Cherry replied with a hint of doubt in her voice.

Lionel then attempted to change the subject. "So, what's with the noise from downstairs? Bruce having another of those stuffy fancy-pants parties?" he asked.

"I was watching a movie, he's up in his room." Cherry clarified.

"Oh..." Lionel replied. "Well, apparently his company has one scheduled for tomorrow night..."

"Doesn't surprise me," Cherry said. "Makes me wonder if Bruce is really a social butterfly or if people just wanna party at a mansion that would put Daddy Warbucks to shame."

"Maybe both?" Lionel shrugged.

"Hm," Cherry smirked to him. "That might be a good point."

* * *

And so, another day passed and gave way to the night. The guests were on their way as Cherry was eating a hot dog in her nice, clean dress.

"Cherry, didn't I tell you not to eat a hot dog wearing a dress?" Bruce sighed.

"This hot dog's not wearing a dress." Cherry muffled.

Lionel chuckled at that.

"Smart ass..." Bruce muttered.

"And proud of it!" Lionel added.

Bruce rolled his eyes, but gave a small smirk to that.

"Um... Sorry about the Joker." Cherry said to help comfort him.

"We all knew someday it would either be him or you," Lionel replied. "Can't help that."

"That's quite all right," Bruce said. "I've never intended on killing him, nor was I his best friend, but it sure is groundbreaking. I trust you two to behave for the party, all right?"

"Yes, we will, don't worry." Cherry promised him.

"Hey, no need to worry!" Lionel smirked.

"All right, I'll let the guests inside, you two try to have some fun." Bruce gave a small smile to them.

"Sure," Lionel rolled his eyes. "At a snooty shindig like this, it's nigh-impossible to find any kinda fun."

"Welcome to my world." Cherry nearly deadpanned before finishing off her hot dog.

Alfred, at the time, was giving his fellow workers their marching orders. "You there, more napkins at the buffet. You, attend to the spill in the study, and you, Stipes, I realize this assignment might not be as big a priority to you as catching your next wave, but would you mind tucking in your shirt?"

Cherry sat down in her favorite chair in the foyer as another party at Wayne Manor had began.

"This just leaves us one question: what are we supposed to do to have any fun at this lame party...?" Lionel groused.

"I dunno," Cherry said. "No one I really know comes to these things. I think Bruce just has them during my visits so I'll make some new friends."

"Doesn't seem to be working..." Lionel replied as he conjured up a portable videogame. "Say... Doesn't that guy over at the buffet table look kinda... Strange?"

Cherry soon took a look over to see what he was talking about. There was a tall man with icy blue eyes, somewhat pale skin, and an odd haircut with sideburns. He introduced himself to Bruce as "Dr. Alucard". Cherry and Lionel observed the strange man. Cherry seemed to hold her head as she felt a strange aura coming from this 'Dr. Alucard'.

"Bruce Wayne," The billionaire smiled before looking perplexed. "I don't believe we've met?"

"I am new to Gotham; a recent transfer from Eastern Europe." Alucard replied.

"Eastern Europe, huh?" Lionel muttered. "Prob'ly Transylvania..."

"Mm..." Cherry hummed mysteriously.

"Really?" Bruce asked Alucard. "What line of work are you in?"

"Cultural Anthropology," Alucard replied as Cherry walked up to him, strangely. "I am here to study your city's Batman."

"Whaddya mean our city's Batman?" Lionel asked. "You saying you guys got a Batman across the pond?"

"You mean that Budapest has a Dark Knight too?" Bruce's latest lady friend smirked out of amusement.

Cherry snickered between the two.

"Rare instances have been documented of a man who assumes the likeness of a bat, in societies ancient as well as modern," Alucard replied. "And I believe, that while instilling fear by night, these beings cloak themselves as normal members of society."

Lionel smirked. "Oh, the pure unadulterated irony..." he muttered.

Alucard looked down to Cherry. Cherry's eyes widened briefly.

"Your daughter?" Alucard replied.

" _Goddaughter_ ," Bruce said. "This is Cherry. She visits Gotham very often, and this is her friend, Lionel."

"...Nice to meet you." Lionel replied with a bit of venom in his tone.

"Charmed..." Alucard replied.

"Sure thing..." Cherry muttered slightly.

"Bats are fascinating creatures, you know." Alucard told them all.

"As are you, Doctor," Bruce replied before linking his arms with one Vicki Vale. "If you'll excuse us, we've got to circulate."

"Jeez, Bruce sure lives up to the whole 'billionaire playboy' act, huh?" Lionel muttered.

"He tends to, yeah," Cherry muttered back with a small smirk. "Ooh... I'm a poor little rich boy... Keep me company, dearly beloved."

Lionel snickered at that. "Still, I'm surprised your aunt didn't show up. She'd be able to blend in like a chameleon." he replied.

"Yeah, I'm not sure where Selina is..." Cherry shrugged. "I guess she had better plans?"

"Anything would be better than this snore-fest..." Lionel replied. "These stuffed-shirts are just playing that lame ol' classical stuff!"

"Mm-hmm..." Cherry agreed before taking a sip of her drink which was creme soda by her request.

* * *

Eventually, Selina came into the crowd as she wore a purple gown with white opera gloves and black heels.

"Oh, look." Cherry said.

"Kitten." Selina smiled once she saw Cherry.

"Ms. Kyle!" Lionel waved. "Nice to see you here."

"Sorry I'm late, but I wanted to surprise you both." Selina said before hugging Cherry.

Cherry gave a small smile to her estranged aunt once they embraced each other.

"Aw... That's nice," Lionel replied. "At least that's one other cool person at this lame party."

"Well, thank you," Selina chuckled to that before looking over. "Kitten... Who's Bruce's friend...?"

"Um, I think he said her name was Vicki Vale," Cherry said. "I just hope she's somewhat better than Icky Vicky."

"This lady's a news reporter," Lionel replied. "Real high-class type. How much ya wanna bet Alfred devised this to get Bruce a date?"

"Oh, I don't believe in gambling, but I'm on your side if you pick that." Selina smirked.

Lionel smirked. "It's the kinda thing he would do. It's happened before."

"Quite," Selina agreed. "You want in, Kitten?"

Cherry didn't say anything as she looked a bit different with Dr. Alucard around.

"I get it," Lionel nodded. "That Alucard guy is putting you on edge, right?"

"I-I'm not sure what it is, but... I feel strange around him." Cherry said to him.

"Is it because if you turn his name backwards it spells Dracula?" Lionel asked.

Cherry's eyes seemed to grow behind her glasses. "I am so stupid!" she then complained as that felt so obvious.

"I saw it in the video game I was playing," Lionel replied. "After that and the good doctor introducing himself, everything just... Clicked into place."

"There's a video game?" Cherry glanced at him.

"Yup," Lionel replied. "It's called Castlevania!"

"Oh, yeah..." Cherry said. "I haven't played Castlevania... I mostly know about it from rants provided by The Angry Video Game Nerd."

"Yeah, in one Castlevania game, there's this guy named Alucard, except he's doing the same thing they did in this one episode of Rick and Morty." Lionel explained.

"That's probably why I feel funny around him," Cherry said. "I can't explain it, but... It's like a telepathic link in a way whenever I meet another vampire that might be dangerous."

"Oh, then we gotta be on high alert," Lionel replied. "But we can't let him know that WE know... Wait, whaddyou mean, another vampire?"

"Uh... I meant that I just had a bad feeling about him," Cherry seemed to cover up. "He, uh, gave me this weird feeling like I couldn't trust him."

"Ah-ba-bap!" Lionel retorted, having caught on. "Don't bother backtracking. Make like a can of beans and SPILL IT!"

Cherry soon walked away from him to act like she didn't say anything and soon went to get something from the buffet table.

Lionel glared. "She's hiding something... And I intend to find out WHAT it is."

Cherry looked around until she smelled something before she cupped her nose and face as she looked sick to her stomach about something.

"Let's see if I can find you some shrimp, Kitten, you love seafood." Selina smiled to her niece.

"Hey, good idea!" Lionel replied.

Cherry soon came behind Selina as she looked like she was gagging.

"What is it, dear?" Selina asked. "Do you feel sick?"

"G... Garlic..." Cherry muttered.

"Garlic..." Lionel realized. "Of course!" he grabbed it and put it under a platter. "I'll take this!"

Cherry soon fell over, but she took a deep breath and breathed out slowly as she seemed to recover.

"Oh. Enjoy, Lionel." Selina smiled to him.

"I think I will," Lionel replied, before turning into a waiter and disguising the garlic-made food. "But I suppose Dr. Alucard will enjoy them even more."

Cherry let out a small gag noise like whenever she would see Atticus and Mo kissing each other in public. Lionel chuckled evilly before heading over to the "good doctor" and slipping a disguised garlic bite onto his plate. Dr. Alucard glanced around as he wandered about while everyone else enjoyed the party in their own way.

* * *

"We spoke of my work," Alucard said once he faced Bruce again as he walked with Vicki. "What's yours?"

"Research and development," Bruce told him. "For instance, the Wayne Industries' SL5. It's the most efficient technology to date for collecting solar energy, and storing it as true sunlight."

"It's about time science did something positive with the sun." Alucard remarked.

"Would the good doctor care to finish his plate...?" The waiter (actually Lionel) asked.

"Hmm... Looks exquisite." Alucard smirked as he took a look to see what it was.

"Of course, it's my family's recipe." Lionel replied with a ghost of a smirk.

"What do you call it?" Alucard replied as he came to take a piece.

"I call it... Munchies à l'ail," Lionel replied with a smile. "Care to try one?"

"Hmm... I suppose one could not hurt..." Alucard smirked as he soon picked one up and got ready to eat it.

Lionel smirked as the doctor popped one into his mouth.

"What. Are. In. Those?" Cherry demanded to Lionel.

"You have YOUR secrets, and I have mine." Lionel smirked darkly.

"Seriously." Cherry told him as she clearly saw through his disguise.

"Hey, you're not gonna tell me? Then I'm not gonna tell _you_ ," Lionel remarked. "Part of being a team is trusting your teammates. And clearly you don't trust _me_. So... Yeah."

Cherry soon narrowed her eyes and walked away from him.

Lionel grinned as Dr. Alucard coughed, looking a bit sickly. "I thought she actually trusted me..." he then remarked.

"What have you done?!" Alucard growled out to Lionel as he suffered from the snack with his eyes turning red briefly.

"Oh, did I neglect to mention that munchies à l'ail is French for... Garlic bites?" Lionel smirked. "Sorry, must've slipped my mind."

"What are you trying to do?!" Dr. Alucard glared. "Kill me?! I'm allergic to garlic, you fool!"

"Hey, I didn't KNOW, Mister!" Lionel replied. "You never said nothin'!" He dusted his suit off. "Sides, you could've at least told me beforehand! I'm no psychic... Even though I know who you are..."

"You could've told me what it was!" Alucard glared as his eyes turned red.

"Well, I'm sorry, alright?" Lionel replied before injecting him with an empty needle and snapping his fingers, removing the garlic from his system. "Lucky for you, I gots antidote!"

"Ass pull, much?" Cherry muttered.

"Lack of trust much?" Lionel retorted. "Besides, that needle was empty."

Cherry blew a raspberry at him as she seemed to be annoyed with him right now.

"So that's how ya wanna play it?" Lionel snapped. "Well, I don't need this shit! I'm outta here!" he changed back discreetly and stormed off into the night. "Need to blow off some steam anyway..." And with a huff, he stomped off into the pouring rain.

Cherry glanced over and soon turned away as she walked off on her own.


	3. Chapter 3

Lionel stormed through the rain before he spotted Penguin. "Well, well... I'm ready to pluck some feathers." he cracked his knuckles with a smirk.

Penguin appeared to be working on something as he wandered on his own that night in the streets.

Lionel became Bat-Mite, then turned invisible to follow him as he skulked down the streets. _'I nab Bird-Boy, then I figure I can fish clown-face outta the river and give him a decent burial,'_ he thought to himself. _'Sounds like a nice night.'_

"Hey, who's there? Penguin glared as he looked around, feeling like he heard a voice.

Lionel imitated the sound of the wind whistling through the trees to throw Penguin off.

Penguin growled to himself as he came out to look around before shrugging. "Now, where was I?" he then muttered to himself.

Bat-Mite snuck behind him, following him to the graveyard...where he encountered The Joker! Bat-Mite blinked in surprise. "If he's a zombie, then he's a lively-looking one. Otherwise, it looks like reports of his demise were greatly exaggerated," Then, he shrugged. "Boy, are Batman and Gothika gonna get a kick outta _this_ ," he cracked his knuckles. "And if _they_ miss out on the beatdown? Too bad, so sad!"

Penguin soon began to run as quick as his legs could carry among the graveyard.

"Looks like I better follow..." Bat-Mite decided as he took off, gliding stealthily behind the villains.

Penguin ran as someone chased after him, and of course, he was quite breathless until he soon found a place to hide for now.

"This is gonna be fun..." Bat-Mite smirked, cracking his neck. "Two bad guys, one thrashing! And nothing can ruin this for me!"

Penguin continued to run until he soon found a place to hide.

Before Bat-Mite could prepare to strike, his Batcom started to vibrate. With a sigh, he picked it up. "The Mite is on. What's up?" he asked.

 ** _"Where are you right now?"_** LG's voice asked him.

"At the cemetery, taking a walk among the tombstones," Bat-Mite replied. "And you'll never guess who I spotted tailing Penguin. Hint: big ugly smile, crazy green hair, all dressed up in an ugly purple tux."

 ** _"Ugh..."_** LG replied with a slight shudder. ** _"Wait, what? Are you serious?!"_**

"Serious as a heart attack," Bat-Mite replied. "Ol' Chuckles is alive and well. Knowing him, he faked his death, but I digress: what's with the call?"

 ** _"You just disappeared for a while,"_** LG said. **_"We were getting kinda worried."_**

"Oh..." Bat-Mite replied. "Well... I'm okay, but from now on, no more secrets. A team has to know each other inside and out."

 ** _"Oh, you mean about earlier?"_** LG asked him. **_"Look, I'm sorry, I'm just trying to be careful."_**

"I know," Bat-Mite replied. "But maybe you could tell me in a place where we could be extra certain that nobody else was listening?"

 ** _"Fair enough... I'll keep that in mind next time, and I'm very sorry..."_ **LG said to him with a sharp sigh.

"It's okay," Bat-Mite replied. "Anyways... I should probably get back to the mansion, huh?"

 ** _"I think you should,"_** LG said to him. ** _"If you can forgive me for being mysterious about... Well, you know."_**

"Okay," Bat-Mite replied. "And yeah, I forgive you. Though I'll stop and get something from Wendy's on the way back. If I'm lucky, by the time I return, the stuffy party will be halfway over."

 ** _"Lucky you."_** LG seemed to smirk a bit about missing a party with Bruce Wayne in it, no matter how exciting it seemed among other people in Gotham City.

"Don't worry. I'll get you something too," Bat-Mite replied. "Speaking of which, you want anything from Wendy's?"

 ** _"Uh... Junior bacon cheeseburger without tomatoes..."_ **LG replied, suddenly feeling hungry.

"Junior bacon... Minus tomatoes... Got it!" Bat-Mite replied. "Be back shortly. Later!" And he hung up.

* * *

On LG's side of the line, her eyes seemed to glow a faint red. "It is done, mi'lord. The trap is set." she said to Dr. Alucard, who had his hand on her shoulder and his eyes were also glowing red.

"Excellent," grinned the doctor. "You've done well, fellow bloodsucker. And you understand what to do once your friend returns?"

"Yes... I know what I must do now..." LG replied, a bit coldly, darkly, and menacingly. "I won't let you down."

Dr. Alucard smirked. "That's the spirit." he replied. "Now go... Mull about, and enjoy the party until your feast arrives."

"Yes... Of course..." LG said to him as she soon wandered off on her own.

* * *

Eventually, Bat-Mite returned to Wayne Manor, and after changing back to Lionel, came in through one of the nearby windows. "Perfect... And barely anybody noticed I was gone!" he remarked.

"Mew~" A voice mewed.

Lionel looked around, but saw that it was just Selina's cat. Isis looked up at him with big and wide eyes.

"Aww~... Hey there, you," Lionel gushed as he came over to the cat and picked her up. "This party sure was boring, wasn't it?"

Isis nodded to him, purring in his hold as she stretched around a bit.

"Aww... You are a smart cat," Lionel smirked as he conjured a small mouse toy for her. "Have you seen Cherry around here? You know: girl who's two feet taller than me, light-brown skin, dark hair, snarky expression on her face?"

Isis began to play with the mouse toy before looking over to Cherry's room in the mansion from his question.

"Wow, thanks!" Lionel beamed, patting her gently on the head before setting her down and heading to Cherry's room.

Isis mewed before playing with the mouse toy once he was gone.

Lionel poked his head inside. "Hey, Cherry? I got your junior bacon cheeseburger, minus the tomatoes!" he called into the room.

"Excellent... I'll be right there in a sec..." Cherry replied through her personal bathroom door.

"K!" Lionel replied as he took a seat and began drinking his frosty chocolate shake.

A nozzle was heard being shut off and a curtain was being opened. After a few moments, Cherry soon came out of the bathroom, wearing a spaghetti-strapped nightgown and her hair was down all over her shoulders and arms as she attempted to 'look cute' for him. Lionel put his shake to the side, and his jaw hit the ground and his tongue rolled out.

"Sorry about my appearance, but I thought I'd get a shower in and get myself comfortable for when you came back." Cherry said to Lionel.

Lionel pulled his jaw up. "W-Well... You certainly succeeded..." he replied.

"Ah, good, my burger," Cherry grinned a bit hungrily. "I was pretty hungry~"

"Yup," Lionel blushed as he took his burger out. "Same here..."

Cherry soon began to eat her burger, moaning a bit aggressively. Lionel watched her the whole time, gazing intently as he ate his burger. Cherry seemed to make him watch her simply eating on purpose. But Lionel didn't mind, and soon finished his burger before starting in on the nuggets and fries. Yeah, he was _really_ hungry.

"I see we were both rather hungry, hmm...?" Cherry smirked slightly.

"Oh, without a doubt," Lionel replied. "That's why I brought those nuggets and fries and put the ketchup on them."

"I guess you _were_ hungry... So am I..." Cherry chuckled a bit.

"Well, if you want some nuggets or fries, I got plenty," replied Lionel. "Not to mention I grabbed a BUNCH of different sauce packets."

"Barbecue?" Cherry smirked.

"Oh, yeah," replied Lionel. "I grabbed two handfuls of those packets."

"Good... Good..." Cherry said. "Pass some fries my way."

Lionel handed her one of the cartons of fries, as well as a couple of BBQ sauce packets.

"Why, thank ya." Cherry said, taking them and instantly eating them.

"You thirsty?" asked Lionel as Cherry ate. "I think I got some soda in here somewhere..."

"Very thirsty..." Cherry replied, licking her fangs a bit.

"So I've noticed..." Lionel replied. "You want me to check your eyes or something?"

"Oh, it's okay," Cherry said. "Oh, darn, I dropped my phone. Could you get it for me? It's closer on your side."

"Okay," Lionel replied, snapping his fingers and poofing the phone into his hand. "Here ya go!"

Cherry scooted closer to him, leaning over him a bit with a creeping hiss.

"You okay?" asked Lionel, holding out the phone to her.

"...Fine..." Cherry said, leaning back and taking the phone. "Thank you. I guess it's about out of juice."

"And here's your charger," added Lionel, putting the cord and plug on her shoulder. "Anyways, what can I get you to drink?"

"Uh... What do you have?" Cherry asked, trying to keep herself under control as she seemed hungry/thirsty for something else now.

"I got Sprite, Coca-Cola, Fanta Orange, Fanta Grape... There are a _lot_ of Fantas in here..." Lionel replied.

"Maybe something red...?" Cherry grinned.

"Hmm...okay," Lionel replied as he continued rummaging through the bag. "Let's see... Red, red..."

Cherry scooted closer and soon grabbed a hold of him suddenly and gnawed down onto his neck.

"OW!" Lionel yelled. "What the heck?! I didn't know you were into that kinda thing, but it hurts a little!"

Cherry kept on biting him, looking a bit entranced and hungry.

"Oh! Oh... Ohhhh~" Lionel moaned sharply.

"Mm... So good..." Cherry smirked, licking her lips a bit from the crimson liquid that emerged from Lionel's neck.

Lionel moaned as he clutched his head. "Whoa... I feel kinda dizzy... What's happenin'...?" he asked, stumbling around in a daze.

Cherry soon licked her lips once she felt full now after drinking his blood and soon leaned back with a rather happy-sounding moan as she wriggled a bit on top of her bed. Lionel eventually collapsed, as his wound healed itself, but a pair of fangs grew into his mouth as well.

Cherry soon sat on her bed and waited for him to wake up again so that they could talk.

* * *

A few minutes later, Lionel soon woke up and stumbled to his feet. "Oh, my head... What happened...?" he grunted.

"Wake up, Sleeping Beauty..." Cherry told him. "You had a bit of a fall."

"Did I? Weird, I don't remember what happened after I was looking for the soda..." Lionel replied. "Unrelated note, I dunno what's with the weird fangs in my mouth... Also my neck kinda hurts."

"You'll get used to that after about a week," Cherry said. "It just might hurt like a bit' though the first time around."

"First time around?" Lionel asked. "For what?"

"Being a... Creature of the night." Cherry said to him.

"Oh..." Lionel replied. "How do I do that?"

"I'll teach you..." Cherry said mysteriously. "It's a process."

"Looks like I got plenty of time," Lionel replied. "And I couldn't ask for a better teacher."

"Aw, go on..." Cherry replied modestly. "Now, you shouldn't be hungry for blood just yet, it takes your DNA at least 24 hours to altar and change from what it once was before."

"Couldn't I simply use my powers to alter it so that I don't need blood all the time, just every once in a while, but I can still eat normal food?" suggested Lionel.

"I've never heard of such a thing, but you can try it if you think it'll work." Cherry said to him.

"Alright then," Lionel replied as he snapped his fingers. "I also did it for you."

"Man, you and your powers..." Cherry said to him. "Maybe you can make me good at Algebra so I don't have to face summer school."

"That's a pretty easy one for me to do." Lionel said as his finger glowed, and he tapped Cherry on the head with it.

"Looks like something out of ET." Cherry commented from that.

"So I see..." Lionel replied. "But it does work, regardless. I increased your mathematical prowess exponentially."

"Really now?" Cherry asked. "Well, I guess I'll know once I go back to school, won't I?"

"I suppose we'll _both_ know by then." Lionel replied.

"Hmm... Yeah..." Cherry said. "Uh, sorry I bit ya like that... I just... Um... Had the need?"

Lionel shrugged. "Eh, water under the bridge. By the last part, I was actually starting to like it."

"Really...?" Cherry blinked a bit at him. "Most people don't..."

"Well, I guess I knew you wouldn't really hurt me." replied Lionel.

"Not really... I mean, when we first met, I didn't know what to make of you, but that's just how I am around new people." Cherry said to him.

"I know..." Lionel replied.

Cherry soon leaned back, drinking some soda now after taking his blood like Dr. Aculard wanted her to.

Lionel took one out and drank it as well. "Well... Guess I'm a vampire now. To be honest, it doesn't really feel that different from...being me. If anything, it feels... More comfortable." he explained.

"Well, that's good," Cherry said. "Everyone reacts differently to it. I felt annoyed by it at first."

"When did it happen to you?" asked Lionel.

"Sometime after middle school graduation..." Cherry said. "I was going through some inner demons. Someone didn't want me to die too soon and appreciate life while I could."

"That's fair..." Lionel said. "There's not much time in life, so you can't afford to waste it being all gloomy and grim and gritty. You gotta make time for having fun, too!"

"Yeah, but I was going through some issues at that time..." Cherry let out a soft sigh.

"Once again, that's fair." Lionel replied, patting her shoulder.

"The end of middle school was tough, but there was one plus side." Cherry smirked.

"And that was?" Lionel asked.

"Gem Stone got accepted into a boarding school out of the country." Cherry smirked.

"Ooh, solid win!" Lionel beamed.

"There was much rejoicing..." Cherry chuckled from the memory. "I'm not sure who was more relieved, me or her, believing that boarding school with more 'people like her' would be better than being in a school filled with 'peasants'."

"Snobby, uptight bitch." Lionel grumbled.

"She was always like that around everybody, except for Harvey of course," Cherry rolled her eyes. "Don't know what makes Harvey so special, but he's a cool guy to hang out with."

"Guess she wanted to make sure Sabrina didn't get him." replied Lionel.

"Probably," Cherry said. "They were always doing that. Sabrina and Harvey always felt more like best friends than an actual couple in middle school anyways."

"So... What do you want to do now?" asked Lionel.

"I dunno," Cherry said. "I'm not going to that party, that's for sure."

"Yeah, me neither," Lionel replied. "Maybe we could just go out for a fly?"

"Are you going to sing 'Let Me Be Your Wings'?" Cherry smirked playfully.

"I'd hafta learn the song, but maybe." replied Lionel, turning into a bat.

Cherry took a deep breath before she soon joined him and they flew out of her bedroom window to fly into the night together.

"Whoo-ha!" Lionel whooped as he did loops in the air. "This is the BEST! I've never felt so free!"

"I had to get some flying lessons for a while due to my fear of heights, but I'll be okay right now." Cherry said to him as they flew off into the night.

"Oh, cool!" Lionel replied.

"Plus I can find stuff sometimes just by hearing it." Cherry then smirked.

"Sweet!" Lionel replied as he did more loops, followed by a nosedive.

"At least you found a way to have fun." Cherry teased him as they flew together in the moonlight.

"Ah, you know me: I try!" Lionel replied with a blush.

"The city looks so pretty at night, that's one of the reasons why I like visiting here." Cherry said as she took a look around.

"I see what'cha mean." Lionel stated as they looked over the lights of the city.

* * *

The two flew around together, having a bit of fun, even if Cherry was more quiet about her own excitement. Regardless, it was still a nice night to be out, flying high and enjoying the view. They soon perched into a high tree together, looking out into the city of the night after flying for a while.

"I sometimes feel like I'm in one of my favorite non-American cartoons whenever I become a bat." Cherry said.

"Which one would that be?" asked Lionel.

"School for Vampires," Cherry said. "It's mostly from Germany. Basically, it's about a group of kids who go to a boarding school for, well, vampires, and they have a lot of misadventures together, especially since a very bad at his job, vampire hunter lives next door."

"Sounds like fun." Lionel chuckled.

"Sadly never made a US release, but luckily I found episodes in English," Cherry said. "I just wanna understand what's going on, and watching a full series in a different language feels like a game of Charades."

"I know what you mean," Lionel replied. "Especially if they don't have any subtitles."

"Plus it's kinda funny seeing the English dub when it doesn't match their lips sometimes." Cherry chuckled.

"Yeah." Lionel agreed.

"It sure is interesting to have the life of a vampire," Cherry said. "I only drink blood when I really NEED to."

Lionel nodded in agreement. "So that Dr. Alucard character... Something was WAY off with him."

"...Yeah..." Cherry said to him.

"I think he might be a vampire," replied Lionel. "But not like us. Like, an EVIL one."

"Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me," Cherry said to him. "Evil vampires are quite hypnotic and luring. They say they'll help you, but they'll drain more than just blood if you're not careful."

"I got suspicious when I let him try one of the garlic bites," replied Lionel. "Of course, I didn't KNOW they had garlic until I read the label on them afterwards."

"Yeah... Careful... That stuff'll kill ya..." Cherry said. "I wasn't much of a big garlic eater before I got bitten, except for maybe my mom's homemade garlic bread with spaghetti, but it's pretty gruesome to your insides."

"Good to know," replied Lionel. "Too bad I might never be able to enjoy pasta sauce ever again..."

"I'm sorry..." Cherry said softly.

Lionel sighed, and for the first time in a while, he was silent, lamenting. Cherry looked to him and soon looked out to the city with him on that night.

* * *

Eventually, they headed home.

"Well, that was pretty nice." Cherry said on the way back before she let out a small yawn.

"Yeah..." Lionel replied. "Then again, not _all_ pasta sauces have garlic in them... So it's not a total loss, I suppose..."

"My mother's doesn't." Cherry suggested.

"Really?!" Lionel asked, his eyes brightening. "Then there _is_ still hope!"

Cherry gave a small smirk as she was glad that had worked, plus it was true. They flew in through the window and resumed their human forms. Cherry stretched and popped her bones a bit once they came back.

Lionel twisted his body to get the cricks out before returning to its regular shape. "I should probably go to my own room..." he replied.

"Yeah," Cherry said to him. "I especially don't want Bruce to freak out about me having a boy in my room with me while I get some sleep. He's kinda weird like that."

"Hey, I get it, 100%," replied Lionel. "Consider me gone. Good night, Cherry. I love ya."

"Night, Lionel, I'll see you later on." Cherry said, waving to him as she got back to her bed.

* * *

And so Lionel went to bed.

Cherry soon went to bed herself while staring up at the ceiling. "Well, I did it. I bit him..." she then sighed to herself. "Satisfied?"

The wind seemed to whisper through the trees in response. Cherry soon let out a yawn as she turned over in the bed to get some rest for herself.


	4. Chapter 4

Soon, the next morning came. Alfred soon came to wake up both Cherry and Lionel once the next morning came. After they got up, they got dressed and went down to have breakfast. Surprisingly, Bruce was at the table with them.

"Oh... Morning, Bruce..." Cherry said.

"Morning, Cherry. Morning, Lionel." Bruce greeted the two.

"By the way, Master Bruce, remember you have a date with Ms. Vale this evening." noted Alfred as he served breakfast.

"Ah... Vicki Vale..." Cherry remarked. "How's that going, Brucey?"

"Don't worry about it, but I'll tell you more after the date." Bruce smirked to her.

"Better hope Selina doesn't get jealous." replied Lionel.

"Oh, no." Cherry smirked to that.

"Ah, I'm sure she'll be fine." Bruce said to them.

"If ya say so." Lionel shrugged as he tucked into his eggs.

"Did you two see the news last night?" Bruce asked.

"No, we were just talking." Cherry said to him.

"Why? What was on it?" muffled Lionel, his mouth full of ketchup covered eggs and cheese.

"There seem to be a series of missing people, but no one can really trace on who's doing it." Bruce told them what he knew.

"Interesting..." Lionel said as he swallowed. "How long has this been happening?"

"Almost a full week." Bruce said.

"Hmm... Brutal..." Cherry commented as she sipped on her apple juice.

"And that Alucard guy... I think he might be connected." Lionel said.

"That's a good point." Bruce had to agree with him.

"Just think about it: Alucard backwards is Dracula!" Lionel replied. "And he comes from Transylvania! That _can't_ be a coincidence!"

Cherry didn't say anything as the two talked about the mysterious case.

"You might have something there." Bruce admitted.

"Sounds like he might steal your job as a detective, sir." Alfred said jokingly.

"Nah, I just leave it to the professionals." Lionel replied.

"I would prefer if you did, but thank you for the tip." Bruce said to him.

"No prob." Lionel replied.

Cherry looked between them as she continued to eat her breakfast in silence.

"Anyways, I figure we'll go for a walk while you're at work," Lionel replied. "Maybe hang with Ms. Kyle, get some lunch, that sort of thing."

"All right, just remember to stay out of trouble and keep your phone nearby." Bruce reminded.

"We know, Bruce, we know." Cherry told him.

"Plus, we'll have each other's backs!" Lionel added. "Anybody tries to mess with us, we'll thrash 'em!"

"All right then, you have fun after breakfast then." Bruce told them.

"Will do!" The both of them replied.

Bruce soon continued to eat his breakfast until he would get up to get going to work for the day.

* * *

Eventually, he finished and left for work.

"See ya, Bruce." Cherry said.

"See you both later." Bruce said on the way out.

"Alrighty then..." Lionel remarked, putting on his socks. "Wonder what's on TV?"

Cherry looked to Lionel in silence, holding her head as she had a lot to think about because of Aculard.

"What's up?" asked Lionel, curiously.

"Just thinking." Cherry said to him.

"This is about last night, isn't it?" asked Lionel. "About how I got bitten?"

"...It might be..." Cherry said to him.

"If you wanna talk, then I'm ready to listen." Lionel replied.

"I... I wouldn't know where to start..." Cherry said to him. "What is there to say, really?"

"Well, whatever's on your mind, just start with that!" explained Lionel.

"Hmm..." Cherry paused a bit in thought.

Lionel waited patiently while checking for something to watch on the muted TV.

"Well... I bit you... Because... I was asked to..." Cherry soon began.

"Oh..." Lionel replied. "Continue..."

"...Aculard told me to do it..." Cherry said to him.

"I knew he had to be involved somehow!" Lionel remarked. "It wasn't enough he had to manipulate random people, but now he has to use my own crush/best friend against me?! The _nerve_ of that undead bastard!"

"Crush and best friend...?" Cherry repeated, a bit softly.

"Uh, yeah!" Lionel replied. "Why do you think I got all nervous around you sometimes?"

"I thought I was just scary." Cherry smirked as she put her hands on her cheeks.

"No. Joker is scary," Lionel replied. "You? Well, i just got shy around ya because I thought you were too awesome to talk to somebody like me."

"Ah, I'm not that awesome." Cherry said to him.

"Well, you're the most awesome person I know." Lionel replied.

"Ah, go on..." Cherry said to him, taking out a book on magic tricks. "I don't think I'm that interesting. Wonder how it looks on the other side?"

"The other side of what?" asked Lionel.

"Ya know... See what it's like to meet myself..." Cherry shrugged. "I mean, when I met Atticus, we were pretty much isolated from the others around us and alone together, so all we had was each other."

"Um... Okay," Lionel replied. "You mean like your alternate counterpart?"

"No, I just mean, like meeting myself, like being someone who meets me for the first time," Cherry said. "I mean... My social skills aren't the best sometimes."

"Oh." Lionel replied. "Well, it felt surreal, but kinda fun, too."

"I just don't know what to do around new people sometimes." Cherry said.

"That's understandable," replied Lionel. "You never really know how some people will react."

"Anyway... I'm sorry I bit you, but Dracula talked me into it..." Cherry said, crossing her arms. "Sometimes stronger vampires can take over my willpower."

"What if I could find some way to counter that?" asked Lionel.

Cherry gave him a small glance. "Is that even biologically possible?"

"Sure!" Lionel replied. "It might take a few hours, but I can definitely find a way."

"Mm..." Cherry shrugged. "I guess that wouldn't be too bad if you could make it possible."

"Great!" Lionel exclaimed. "I'd just need a tiny bit of your DNA, and I'd be able to alter it and reinsert it into you!"

"That sounds really creepy out of context, but fair enough." Cherry said.

"Upon rethinking, I realize the unfortunate implications, and I apologize!" Lionel replied as he made a pair of clippers and snipped off a few clippings of Cherry's hair.

Cherry blinked with crossed eyes from that. "That was weird..."

"Now, I'll be out in a few hours, so go ahead and channel surf while you wait." Lionel replied as he went to the Batcave's science lab.

"Erm... All right then..." Cherry said as she soon came to the couch, flipping through the TV channels. "Something _better_ be good on..."

* * *

A few hours later, Lionel came back to the living room, his labcoat singed and smoking. "I... Have **DONE IT!** " he exclaimed, before quickly extinguishing a fire that had started on his coattails.

"Yaugh!" Cherry yelped, falling through the couch as she landed on the floor. "Yay."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Lionel exclaimed, running over to her. "I was just a bit over-excited, that's all."

Cherry soon stood up, catching her breath. "I'm fine... Anyway, you found a cure for me?" she then asked.

Lionel nodded ecstatically.

"Hmm... Well, all right!" Cherry said. "Let's get this show on the road then, huh?"

"Alrighty then!" Lionel replied, taking out two beakers full of orange liquid, both labeled "CURE".

"Clever name." Cherry teased.

"I had to make sure it didn't get mixed up with any other chemicals I had around the area." replied Lionel.

"Fair enough," Cherry said. "So, do I eat this or do I get injected or something?"

"You gotta drink it," Lionel replied. "It's flavorless. Basically like drinking water, but with color."

"Oh, okay, that's good," Cherry said, holding out her hands. "Let do this then."

Lionel handed her the beaker, and he took the other.

"Well, bottom's up, right?" Cherry replied.

"Yea, verily!" Lionel replied as they raised their beakers.

Cherry soon clinked beakers with him and soon took a drink of the concoction.

As they finished, Lionel smacked his lips. "Fizzy..." he remarked.

"Not bad..." Cherry said. "Actually pretty quenchable."

"Should take effect shortly," replied Lionel. "We'll feel a slight tingling sensation in our left big toes when it does."

"At least it's not painful." Cherry said.

"Yeah. That would stink." Lionel agreed.

Cherry sat down as she waited for something to happen. "So, what're you gonna do with Dracula?" she then asked. "Put a stake in his heart?"

"Maybe, not to mention I was working on these garlic bombs to subdue him," Lionel explained. " _Then_ I drive the stake into him."

"Garlic bombs?" Cherry replied. "You made actual bombs out of garlic?"

"They're like stink grenades, but with juiced garlic in 'em," Lionel explained. "Don't worry, I would never use them on you."

"That makes sense and sounds very good." Cherry approved.

"Thanks!" Lionel replied as he felt a tingling in his left big toe.

"You okay?" Cherry asked him before feeling the same thing. "Ooh, that's a weird feeling~"

"Yup!" Lionel replied.

"It's both annoying and tickly." Cherry said to him.

"My bad." replied Lionel before the feeling stopped.

"Phew... That wasn't too bad..." Cherry said once the feeling had stopped.

"Yeah," agreed Lionel. "Alright, we can head out now."

"All right, let's move out then!" Cherry told him with a small smirk as she jumped to her feet again.

And so the both of them were out and on their way through town.

* * *

Cherry looked all around as they explored together while Bruce would be at work right now, which meant no time for Batman unless there was a major emergency.

"We just need to find Ms. Kyle's place," Lionel noted. "Easier said than done..."

"I could just call her if you want?" Cherry suggested. "She never leaves her Kitten in the dark."

"Okay, that sounds like a better idea." replied Lionel.

Cherry soon took out her cell phone and waited for an answer after putting in a call.

 ** _"Kyle residence?"_ **A woman's voice asked.

"A-Aunt Selina? Can I get a ride to your place?" Cherry requested.

 ** _"Oh, Kitten! Of course!"_** Selina's voice told her niece.

"Great! Thanks, see you there!" Cherry replied before hanging up.

"Well... That went swimmingly." Lionel said.

"Heh... I kinda like having an Aunt Catwoman." Cherry smirked.

"It does seem interesting..." Lionel replied.

"It can be sometimes." Cherry said.

* * *

Eventually, Selina soon came to see the two, but she had a small smirk as she watched them from a distance. Cherry and Lionel waited for Selina, so far not realizing that she was beside them, just watching them like a cute young couple.

"Wonder when she's getting here?" Lionel asked, checking his wristwatch.

"I dunno, but I'm getting a little tired of waiting." Cherry said.

Selina's giggle was heard and soon, the two spotted her. "Oh! Hello."

"Oh, hai, Aunt Selina." Cherry said in a strange accent.

"Afternoon, Ms. Kyle." Lionel waved.

"Yes," Selina replied. "Afternoon, Lionel. Afternoon, Kitten."

"We were gonna head to your place and hang out there for the day." replied Lionel.

"Aww... You wanna visit me?" Selina smiled. "That's so sweet!"

"Glad you think so!" Lionel replied.

Selina soon walked off to take them to her home. "Bruce okay?" She then asked.

"Yeah, he's at work." Cherry told her aunt.

"Too bad he's got a date wih that Vicki Vale lady from the party last night..." Lionel replied.

"...Is that right?" Selina replied, trying not to sound jealous, but it was obvious that she was. "How... Nice for him..."

"We're sorry about that," Lionel replied. "If it's any consolation, this most likely won't last."

"I sort of hope it doesn't." Selina whispered.

"Hey, believe me too." Cherry told her aunt.

Selina smiled and hugged her as well. Cherry looked up from the hug and they soon went to Selina's apartment building for the day.

"This is a nice view..." Lionel noted as he gazed out over the city.

"Thank you, I really like it myself." Selina smiled as she sat down on the couch with Cherry, stroking Isis in her lap.

Lionel played with the cat for a little while.

"I'm just surprised how much Isis likes you." Selina said to Lionel as she watched the two play together.

"Well, we did play last night." Lionel replied.

"Are you a cat person, Lionel?" Selina asked curiously.

"Yeah, they're aces in my book." Lionel replied as he dangled the toy mouse over Isis' outstretched paws.

Isis kept trying to swat at the mouse toy, feeling entranced by it.

"I'm just so sorry about this Dracula mess," Cherry said. "Who would've thought that Gotham would get hit by a vampire?"

"Well, in our line of work, we run into some very unusual characters," Lionel replied. "But this guy is gonna be a bit harder to take down."

"Yes, I'd imagine so," Selina said. "And I'm willing to help you out."

"Awesome!" Lionel and Cherry exclaimed.

"What's family for, right?" Selina smiled.

"Oh, uh, right, Aunt Selina." Cherry replied.

"Thanks again, future aunt-in-law." Lionel added.

Selina giggled a bit to him. "Sure thing."

Cherry gave a small smile, though she looked out to the window with a sigh as she thought about Dracula.

"You alright?" asked Lionel.

"Just thinking about that monster being loose in this city when it has enough trouble on its own." Cherry replied.

"Hey, I toldja; we got plenty of anti-Drac gear at the Cave," Lionel said. "So us and Batman should have very little trouble with that dried-out nutcase!"

"You shouldn't worry too much, Kitten," Selina smiled. "Lionel seems to have this covered."

"He seems to always have it covered," Cherry smirked. "He's like a Boy Scout."

"Well, the motto _is_ 'always be prepared'!" Lionel replied.

"You must feel lucky and happy to have him." Selina said to Cherry.

"99% of the time." Cherry smirked playfully.

"Well, it's better than nothing." Lionel smiled.

"Yes, it is," Selina told them. "You two look adorable together, like I would be with Bruce."

Lionel blushed as he rubbed the back of his head. "Aw, shucks... I'm flattered you'd say that!" he replied.

Selina giggled a bit to him while Isis soon caught the mouse toy.

"Ah, you caught it!" Lionel beamed to the cat.

Isis nodded as she purred to him. Cherry and Selina both chuckled to that.

* * *

Eventually, the afternoon gave way to the evening, so Lionel and Cherry hung out some more, since Bruce was currently on his date.

"You hungry yet?" Cherry asked Lionel.

"Sure, I could eat." replied Lionel.

"Ah, I guess you got your appetite back a bit," Cherry said to him. "Whatcha hungry for?"

"Hmm... Pizza?" suggested Lionel. "Pizza sounds good."

"Yeah... Pizza is good..." Cherry said with a nod. "Let's get a great big pizza!"

"Alright!" Lionel nodded as he went to find the phone.

"Um, how do you feel about pepperoni?" Cherry asked.

"I respect that other people like it, but I'm not really a fan of it," replied Lionel. "I prefer chicken-&-cheese on my pizzas."

"Okay, I can do that," Cherry said. "I usually get pepperoni, but I'm cool with chicken. You can never go wrong with chicken."

"Awesome!" Lionel replied as he dialed the Pizza Place's phone number.

"Can we get wings and cheese sticks with that?" Cherry asked hopefully.

"That's a 10:4, good buddy!" Lionel replied.

"I feel more hungry than usual, I don't know why..." Cherry said. "Must be cravings."

"Could be." Lionel shrugged as he waited for the other line to pick up.

 ** _'Pizza Paradise, how would you like your pie today?'_ **A voice responded on the other line.

"Half-chicken, half-cheese, and could we get some wings and cheese sticks with that?" asked Lionel.

 ** _'Mild, hot, or barbecue?'_ **The clerk asked.

"Barbecue..." Cherry grinned hungrily.

"Barbecue." Lionel replied over the line.

 ** _'All right, are you going to come in to pick it up or would you like it delivered?'_ **The clerk then asked.

"Delivery." Lionel replied.

 **'And what's the name?'** The clerk then asked.

"Schwartz, Lionel Schwartz," Lionel replied. "Currently calling from Apartment 262 of the Gotham Arms apartments."

 ** _'All right, it's on the way!'_ **The clerk replied.

"Great, and thanks!" Lionel replied as he hung up.

"Well, I did briefly interact with her at the party..." Lionel replied.

"Hopefully the pizza also takes my mind off things for a bit." Cherry said.

"Yeah," agreed Lionel. "Pizza makes a lot of things better."

"Yeah... It really does... My mom likes to order me pizza whenever I've had a tough day..." Cherry nodded, a bit nostalgically.

"...Your mom sounds AWESOME." Lionel replied calmly.

"Yeah, a lot of friends seem to think so." Cherry chuckled a bit.

* * *

And so they sat and waited for the pizza to arrive.

"Visiting Gotham sure is nice... Sometimes I think about staying here forever..." Cherry said as they waited along.

"Honestly, this place is alright," replied Lionel. "All it needs now is to get rid of the crime problem, and it would be ideal."

"Yeah, that's what I think," Cherry said. "Crime's pretty rare in Greendale most of the time."

"Sounds like a neat place," replied Lionel. "Maybe I could visit sometime?"

"Hmm... Okay, if you're really up for it, I see nothing wrong with that." Cherry replied.

Lionel did a little mid-air somersault. "Awesome!" he gushed.

Cherry gave a small amused smirk from his excitement.

"Besides, after this whole Dracula case is over with, I know I'm gonna need a vacation from all this Gotham craziness..." Lionel replied as he flew back to the ground.

"Fine by me," Cherry smirked. "I have my own adventures down in Greendale, but not as much as down here."

"Well, whatever they are, at least they'll be a welcome change of pace from this." sighed Lionel.

"If you can call it that," Cherry said. "It ain't much, but at least it's not an orphanage in the middle of nowhere."

"True..." Lionel replied, curiosity piqued.

* * *

Eventually, they had their pizza and sat down to eat it to take a bit of a break from the Dracula case.

Lionel ate a few slices. "You think Bruce is done with his date by now?" he asked.

"I hope so," Cherry said. "At least he doesn't make me go with him to those all the time."

"Yeah," replied Lionel. "Honestly, that just seems to be a recipe for awkward moments."

"He usually asks if I wanna come along," Cherry smirked. "I mostly come for the food, though the date usually sucks up to me and often says how much Bruce admires me and sees me as the daughter he never had."

"Sounds like a snooze fest..." Lionel noted. "But at least the food is decent, right?"

"Yeah, Bruce always has a good eye for food on a date or social ritual." Cherry nodded.

"We might as well take our leftovers and head home." suggested Lionel.

"Sounds good to me," Cherry said with a sigh, biting into her cheese stick for the road as the cheese stretched out from the bite. "I kinda hope this date with Vicki was a flop. I dunno why, I just feel funny about Bruce dating women... Except for maybe... Uh... Good pizza, huh?"

"Yup-yup-yup!" Lionel nodded. "And I get what you mean. I'm honestly hoping that Bruce and Selina do get together soon."

"Yeah..." Cherry soon sheepishly admitted. "Even before I knew Selina Kyle was my aunt, I kinda always imagined seeing them together."

"Kinda like they were destined to be together." Lionel nodded.

"Nice to see someone agrees with me on that, but we'll see what the Fates say." Cherry smirked.

"Not like we can't try and ease things along." Lionel replied as they left the apartment.

Selina waited for her company, stroking Isis as she watched TV to pass the time without them.


	5. Chapter 5

Eventually, Lionel and Cherry got back to Wayne Manor to see Bruce, in the Batmobile, returning to the Cave.

"I guess the date's over?" Cherry asked Batman.

"Yup..." sighed Bruce, taking off his cowl. "I had to run in the middle...and I had a run-in with more of the good doctor's... Patients, as well as the doctor himself."

Lionel gulped. "You didn't get... Bitten, did you?" he asked.

"No..." Bruce replied. "He tried to offer me a deal: join him and conquer the world. I said no, and now he's sworn to kill me."

"Should've seen that coming..." Cherry sighed. "Bruce, I'm _so_ sorry."

"It's fine..." replied Bruce. "He would have done it either way. I'm just glad he chose sooner than later."

"Lucky for you, I've been more than busy making lots of anti-vampire gadgetry to deal with that literally bloodthirsty bozo." Lionel replied, pulling out a large suitcase from a nearby cabinet.

"It's true, he has." Cherry said.

"Where have you been all my life?" Bruce weakly laughed to lighten the mood a little.

"The 5th Dimension." Lionel replied with a shrug.

"Oh... Yeah..." Bruce replied. "Anyway, I might need some help from Bat-Mite and Lady Gothika," he then smirked a bit. "Any idea if they might be available?"

"I think they can squeeze you into their busy schedules." Lionel replied with a smirk.

"It would mean a lot to me." Bruce said.

"Well, we'll talk it over with them, but no problem." Cherry smirked the same way Lionel had.

"In fact, I think they should be arriving shortly." Lionel added.

"I knew I could count on them." Bruce said before grunting a bit.

"You okay?" Cherry asked him.

"I'm in slight pain, but I should be fine." Bruce reassured her.

"Alrighty then..." Lionel replied. "You rest up for a while."

"Don't stay up too late." Bruce told them.

"Ah, you know we won't." Cherry replied.

"Yeah!" Lionel agreed.

"I think I need to go and see Alfred though." Bruce said to them.

"That might be a good idea." Cherry and Lionel agreed.

"Help me up there?" Bruce asked.

Cherry and Lionel came up to Bruce to help him out since he was a bit weak at the moment from encountering Dracula. They both took hold of a side of him and lifted him up in unison.

"There we go, buddy." Lionel grunted.

"Thank you both so much," Bruce told them with a sigh. "I'm sure I'll be a little bit better in the morning."

"You just ease your worries and pain," Cherry replied. "We'll see you in the morning sometime."

"In the meantime, get some shut-eye." Lionel added as they both went upstairs.

"Good night then, I'll see you soon." Bruce told them.

"See you." Cherry replied, giving him a soft pat on the back before going off to her room.

And Lionel went to his room as well. Cherry thought about Bruce a bit when he had to deal with Dracula and soon drifted off to sleep. Lionel eventually dozed off after a few hours of reading.

* * *

"Don't let me down..." Dracula told Cherry in her mind.

"Go away." Cherry grumbled.

"Yeah, so hit the road, Nosferatu!" Lionel added. "Scram, vamoose, begone and all that jazz!"

"Lionel?" Cherry blinked. "Is that you?"

"Ah, yes, your precious little friend." Dracula said to Cherry.

"Eh, it ain't Michael J. Fox, that's for sure!" Lionel replied with a wink. "Also, yes. It's me."

"Aww... I wanted to dream about Michael J. Fox." Cherry smirked playfully just to tease him a little.

"Hey, don't sweat the small stuff." Lionel shrugged as he floated in mid-air.

"What do you want?" Dracula asked Lionel.

"He's with me!" Cherry glared.

"So BACK OFF, Vlad the Impaler, before I do some impaling of my OWN!" retorted Lionel.

Dracula looked very annoyed. "Well, let's see how your tone, especially with what I've done to your Daddy Bat, Baby Bat." he then mocked Cherry.

Cherry glared in annoyance from being called 'Baby Bat' again.

"Don't call her that!" Lionel growled. "Say, Count, are you a meat fan or a vegetable fan, dinner-wise?"

"Dare I ask why?" Dracula glared at him.

"I was just wondering... What kind of topping you like on your **STAKE?!** " Lionel asked, creating a giant wooden stake and twirling it like a baton.

"Are you gonna let him do that to me?!" Dracula glared at Cherry, trying to hypnotize her.

"Erm... Uh..." Cherry shook slightly.

Lionel glanced at her. "You are your own person. You don't hafta take orders from this blood-guzzling buffoon!" he exclaimed.

Cherry looked between the two.'

"She can't help it," Dracula smirked. "I'm a higher rank than her... She _has_ to listen to me."

"Wanna bet, Fang-Face?" Lionel smirked. "I fixed THAT little glitch in the system myself!"

Cherry soon backed up against the wall.

"Listen to me... LISTEN. TO _ME_." Dracula told Cherry.

"N-No!" Cherry told him. "I-I-I won't... Stop..."

"You can do it! Resist him!" Lionel encouraged her.

"You can't win..." Dracula told Cherry. "You are in my power."

Cherry had wide eyes then. "Yes... I am in your power..."

Dracula soon laughed wickedly in success. "You will do as I say."

"I will do as you say." Cherry repeated, but soon looked to Lionel and winked to him, showing him that she was just fine.

Lionel gave a discreet smile in response, but then went back to glaring at the scene before him.

"You tell your friend here to watch himself... I already gave your precious godfather a warning, and this is mine for you and that little friend of yours... Understand?" Dracula told Cherry sharply.

"Yes." Cherry blinked.

"Well, get on with it!" Lionel remarked.

"You _will_ help me..." Dracula told Cherry. "I shall come back for you later."

"Yes." Cherry replied.

Dracula soon walked off away from the two and Cherry glanced over before breathing in relief once the older vampire was gone.

"Phew..." Cherry sighed, relaxing her eyes a bit. "For a second there, I felt like I was back in school taking the fall for an incident."

"Way to go!" Lionel smiled. "You were magnificent! So, same as usual."

"I _did_ used to wanna be an actress for a while." Cherry replied.

"Really? I think you still got the chops for it," Lionel replied. "And...maybe I'd be a pretty good actor. Possibly. I've been considering taking a Theatre Arts class if I ever go to college..."

"Hmm... There's an idea." Cherry remarked out of intrigue.

"I guess that oughta be interesting for after we graduate." replied Lionel.

"Eh, yeah, probably," Cherry said. "We'll have to see if I still got it, it's been a while since I was in any plays. The orphanage Atticus and I grew up in sometimes did shows for kids interested, even if the bullies hated us."

"That must've stunk," Lionel replied in sympathy. "But those jerks can't hurt you anymore, that's for sure! We're gonna work at sharpening your acting skills during the afternoons."

"Okay, but I'm not the best student sometimes." Cherry warned with a small smirk.

"Ah, well; everyone has their weak points, even yours truly," Lionel replied. "Besides, the idea of a challenge excites me."

"Quite... Well, I'm gonna get going," Cherry said. "See ya in the morning."

"And you as well, dark angel," Lionel smirked. "As they say in France, bon nuit."

"Yes... Bon nuit..." Cherry nodded. "Also bonum nocte. That's Latin."

"Cool!" Lionel exclaimed before he faded away.

Cherry soon went off that night, though quite glad to be free from Dracula taking control of her in the future, thanks to Lionel.

* * *

The next day before breakfast, Lionel got an eyeful of the morning paper. " ** _'VIGILANTE OR VILLAIN?: The more Batman tries to protect Gotham, the more citizens fear him...'_** This is slander of the highest order!" he exclaimed.

"Well, that's hardly fair for Batman, isn't it?" Alfred sighed as he came to cook breakfast for Bruce, Cherry, and Lionel.

"You took the words right outta my mouth, Alf!" Lionel replied as he kept reading the paper. "The way they talk about him, it's like they can't even tell him apart from Old Fang-Face!"

"They seem to be treating him as the son of Dracula," Alfred nodded to him. "Sounds like one of Miss Cherry's short stories she writes for the school paper."

"Yeah, except brought to life," Lionel remarked. "We gotta solve this missing people case soon, or else nobody's gonna trust the Bat-Family ever again!"

"I really hope you do for all of your sake's." Alfred said as he soon fried some eggs for Cherry along with some bacon and potatoes, knowing how she liked her breakfast on most mornings.

* * *

Later that night, Bat-Mite, Lady Gothika, and Batman saw the Joker stalking his way towards a blood bank.

"See? I toldja!" Bat-Mite whispered, pointing. "I toldja he wasn't really dead!"

"This is TOO freaky." Lady Gothika groaned slightly.

The Joker soon snuck and hid around as they came into the room that kept bottled up blood, but they knew he was there. Batman glared, looking out for the Joker, only to not see him where he felt him. They soon saw the Joker crawling around like a spider with his wicked laughter filling the air.

"Whoa! It's Jokeratu!" Bat-Mite exclaimed as Joker swung in and kicked Batman away.

"UNDEAD AND KICKIN'!" The creepy clown-vampire remarked as Batman struggled to his feet. "You know, you're my second bat-man tonight...and you're BOTH pains in the neck!"

"LG!" Bat-Mite exclaimed, pointing to the two puncture marks in Joker's neck. "Looks like Dracula had something that tasted funny tonight!"

"Huh... So I see..." Lady Gothika said weakly.

The Joker soon grabbed Batman and tossed him away with his unholy strength. "Aww... It's the Baby Bat and her little Batfriend..." he then chuckled to them.

Lady Gothika soon glared and tackled down the Joker with her own strength.

Bat-Mite grinned, taking out a slingshot. "Hope you like Italian, funny-man!" he loaded one of the garlic juice grenades and launched it at Joker.

The Joker attempted to avoid the garlic bombs due to his new vampire DNA, but as he did, he didn't notice Bat-Mite appearing behind him and slamming a mallet into his head afterwards.

"Ooh." Lady Gothika winced, but didn't feel sorry for the Joker obviously.

"I think _you're_ the one who needs to stop on account of hammer time." Joker hissed at Bat-Mite.

"Try and make me, Count Jokula!" Bat-Mite sneered, making a goofy face at him.

Joker snarled as he crept up to Bat-Mite like a spider before jumping out at him. "You are all DEAD DUCKS!"

"And you aren't playing with a full deck!" Bat-Mite replied before he jammed a garlic grenade down Joker's throat.

Lady Gothika helped Batman up to safety just to be on the safe side.

Bat-Mite pressed a small button on a controller he had, which made the garlic grenade explode. "Choke on _that_ , Pennywise!" he quipped.

"I guess _this_ would be The Killing Joke." Lady Gothika remarked.

"Yeah, except it's actually FUNNY!" Bat-Mite replied.

"I wonder about you two sometimes," Batman replied. "Bat-Mite, just be careful."

"I think he's fine, Bats." Lady Gothika told him.

Bat-Mite was hitting Joker from all directions, bouncing off the walls like a rubber ball.

"Man, I don't know who's more rubbery now." Lady Gothika commented to herself.

"Answer: that...would...be...ME!" Bat-Mite replied as his last bounce knocked Joker off his feet.

Batman helped Lady Gothika out of the way as the Joker soon went flying.

"And it's up...it's over...and HE'S OUT!" Bat-Mite exclaimed in an announcer's voice.

"Thank you so much," Batman said before wincing a bit. "Ooh."

"Uh... Ya kinda got some blood on ya." Lady Gothika told Bat-Mite.

"Oh," Bat-Mite replied. "You want that, it's all yours."

"Uh, that would mean I'd have to lick some off of you..." Lady Gothika said bashfully.

"...Not seeing the problem here," Bat-Mite shrugged. "All for you, mi'lady. Help yourself!"

"Uhhh..." Lady Gothika blinked. "Well... Maybe just a little bit."

"Okay!" Bat-Mite replied.

Lady Gothika soon began to clean him up from some of the blood that splattered onto him from dealing with the vampired Joker. Bat-Mite moaned as he felt LG's tongue licking the blood off him.

"Your outfit might take a while to wash," Lady Gothika said. "Blood is a PAIN to wash out sometimes."

"Oh, don't I know it," Bat-Mite said in-between moans. "That's why I just prefer to use my powers to clean them..."

"Mind washing my outfit too?" Lady Gothika asked. "I think I'm gonna need a bath tonight."

"W-Will do..." Bat-Mite replied with a thumbs-up.

"Sir? Are you all there?" Alfred's voice asked through Batman's communication device.

"We are, Alfred," replied Batman. "The garlic grenades did the trick...we have our test subject."

* * *

They soon left the blood bank, taking the Joker with them and locking him up like a caged animal.

"Interrogation might be a little hard tonight." Lady Gothika commented.

"I always thought he needed to be locked up like a caged animal..." Bat-Mite remarked.

"He'll stay in the Bat Cave for now." Lady Gothika replied, leaving and soon went to throw off her blood-soaked costume.

"Joker has suffered a fate crueler than death." remarked Alfred.

"Ah, he deserves it." Lionel scoffed.

"I intend to bring him back to the land of the living... With a little blood work." Batman said, taking out a vial.

And so, as Alfred did some research on vampires, Bruce worked on creating an antidote. Cherry soon dozed off as she took a nap in the bathtub to wash up while Lionel cleaned their clothes.

"It's a dirty job, but someone has to do it," Lionel replied as he got to cleaning. "And since Alfred is occupied, it's gotta be me."

"Mm-hmm..." Cherry replied as she soaked in the bubbles. "It's a pain to wash out blood. Thanks for letting me take some though, but right now I feel REALLY full."

Lionel blushed. "Oh, it's no problem. Least I could do!" he replied.

"I just hope we can clear the Bat Family's name before this Dracula case gets out of hand," Cherry said before dunking her head under the water for a few moments and she soon came back up to the surface with her hair dripping. "Being Lady Gothika some of the times without worrying about school takes a lot out of me enough as it is."

"Don't worry," Lionel replied. "We are going to solve this case AND clear Batman's name!"

"That would be fantastic..." Cherry said as she continued to wash herself as he washed the clothes.

"I'm just about done washing these." replied Lionel.

"Sounds good," Cherry said to him. "I think I'm to read for a bit before I fall asleep tonight. A classic I haven't read in a while called The Dead Mall."

"Who writes that?" Lionel asked.

"Erm... An old friend of my mother's from her old hometown, Oakhaven." Cherry said bashfully.

"Really? How interesting." Lionel replied, curiosity piqued.

"I guess after my bath, I could show you," Cherry said to him. "My mom has a lot of his books and lets me read them since she was a good friend of the author when they were in school."

"Really? Well, that sounds wonderful!" Lionel smiled as he finished washing the clothes.

* * *

Later on, Cherry came out of the tub and went in her room, wearing her pajamas and her bathrobe as she sat on her bed with a horror novel, reading it aloud to Lionel as they had candles lit around the room with her lights turned out, getting intense, aggressive, and brutally serious with each graphic depiction in the book. Lionel tugged nervously at the collar of his pajama shirt upon hearing the very, VERY graphic depictions.

"If this is too much, you can tell me, you know." Cherry said to him.

Lionel took a long deep breath, and exhaled. "Yeah, it is pretty disturbing...and the detailed explanations of each scene only add on..." he replied.

"You want me to stop?" Cherry offered.

"It's fine, really," Lionel replied, sweat beading on his forehead. "I don't wanna ruin your reading experience for you."

"Well... All right..." Cherry said. "I _do_ think that Ben Ravencroft is a bit darker and more intense than Stephen King though for an author from the 21st century unlike maybe HP Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe."

"Ben Ravencroft, huh?" Lionel asked. "Wow, this guy's stuff is terrifying. But hey, not like I planned on getting a full night's sleep anyway..."

"Well, he's one of my inspirations in my more darker writing around Halloween time." Cherry said.

"I can definitely see the resemblance in styles..." Lionel replied. "Well, when I can't sleep, I get contemplative, and when I get contemplative, I like to chat to keep my mind off what's keeping me awake at night...even if it IS a constant stream of nightmares, topped with an inferiority complex..."

"When I can't sleep, it feels like an annoyance." Cherry said.

"I know, I hate it when that happens," Lionel agreed. "Sometimes I go to the kitchen and eat, sometimes I watch television, and sometimes I just use my laptop. Whatever kills time or makes me tired enough to doze off."

"Falling asleep to Fantasia on Spotify though never fails." Cherry chuckled.

"Interesting notion..." Lionel replied, jotting it down.

"I loved watching Fantasia as a kid... It always molded my imagination falling asleep to that music without words..." Cherry said as she sprawled out onto her bed.

"Fan... Tasia?" Lionel asked in confusion. "What's that?"

"Um... How do I explain this?" Cherry paused for a moment. "It's basically a collection of cartoon shorts set to classical music pieces, like The Sorcerer's Apprentice starring Mickey Mouse."

"Oh...well, it sounds very interesting!" Lionel replied enthusiastically.

Cherry soon took out her phone and began to find some clips on her YouTube app so that he could check it out for himself. And Lionel watched intently. Cherry soon bundled down a little, giving a small yawn as they began to watch together.

"This is...exhilarating..." Lionel exclaimed, absent-mindedly clutching a tangerine-colored teddy bear from nearby.

"Yeah, it's pretty great," Cherry replied. "It's like a masterpiece to one's childhood."

"Most definitely." Lionel nodded.

Cherry continued to watch with him before her eyes began to feel heavy as she seemed to slowly drift off to sleep. Lionel gently kissed her on the cheek before placing the tangerine-colored bear under her arm and poofing back to his room, where he dozed off shortly after. Cherry soon fell fast asleep to the videos while Lionel left that night. And so, another night came and went.


	6. Chapter 6

"I hope Bruce could work something out." Cherry said to herself as she went to start her morning in the bathroom.

Lionel was already in the shower while brushing his teeth. When they came into the kitchen, Alfred left breakfast plates for the both of them. And they tucked into both of them.

"Good news: Joker is cured, and he doesn't remember a thing," Bruce told them. "Not to mention 1. I figured out the cure, 2. I know where Dracula's hiding place is, and 3. Penguin is also involved in this vampire caper, too."

"Well, those are mostly good notes." Cherry shrugged.

"Great!" Lionel exclaimed. "About time we caught a break one of these days!"

"Cherry, are you going to be okay?" Bruce asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Cherry told him. "I just know I'm going to take a long break after all of this once I get back home."

"And I think I'd like to come with you," Lionel replied. "I can say with the utmost honesty that I want to see what things are like in other cities on Earth...because Heaven only knows that I've had enough of this one to last a few months."

"I don't blame you both," Bruce said. "Let's hope that this goes smoothly then."

And so, everyone nodded at that.

"Welp...it's a Saturday. Since Bruce has work, whaddya wanna do?" asked Lionel.

"I might call Vicki." Bruce replied.

"Alright, good for you, man," Lionel replied. "It's nice to have prospects...and if Vicki doesn't work out...well, there's always you-know-who!"

"Hmm... Maybe..." Bruce gave a small thoughtful smile about the second option, though he seemed more interested in Vicki right now.

Lionel shrugged, before turning to Cherry. "Well, I'm gonna park in the living room and watch cartoons. You in or what?" he asked.

Cherry looked to Bruce.

"Go have fun." Bruce told her.

"Thanks." Cherry said and soon went to watch cartoons with Lionel.

* * *

Lionel patted a spot on the carpet next to him. "Now all we need are snacks, which we will get during commercials, and then we'll be fully ready to binge-watch."

Cherry hugged a pillow as she soon joined him. "Any snack foods you like and dislike?" she then asked.

Lionel pondered. "As long as it's crunchy and in a big bag, I'm alright with it...apart from Taquis," he replied. "I'm very partial towards cheese puffs, though. Those are my favorite."

"Hmm... I think I can agree with the cheese puffs." Cherry nodded.

"Alright!" Lionel replied as he turned the TV on.

Cherry soon sat back with him to see what would be first for their little cartoon marathon.

"Alright, which cartoon would you like to start with?" asked Lionel.

"I think there's some classic Nicktoons on one channel." Cherry suggested.

"...You had me at classic Nicktoons." Lionel replied calmly before he started changing the channels.

"I'm not sure which channel it is," Cherry said. "Just keep going until you see the Klasky-Csupo logo."

"Gotcha," Lionel nodded as he kept going. "...Wait, what does that look like?"

Cherry showed him a picture on her phone from the 1990's.

"Ohhhh..." Lionel replied. "Is that it?" he asked, pointing to the TV.

"There it is," Cherry pointed out before chuckling to herself. "Also, at this rate of the case up against Dracula, we might have to call Buffy Summers."

"I dunno what that is, but okay!" Lionel shrugged.

"I have a lot to teach you." Cherry sighed a bit, but began to enjoy the cartoon marathon with him.

"Indeed, and I've got plenty of time to learn!" Lionel replied.

"Well, let's watch some good old cartoons to take our minds off things for a while." Cherry decided.

"You said it!" Lionel replied, snapping his fingers and poofing up a large bowl of cheese puffs.

* * *

And so, they took a break, watching cartoons together, eating their snacks like a typical child watching cartoons on Saturday morning. It was definitely a fun way to spend the day. Alfred came to check on them.

"One... More... Cartoon..." Cherry said to herself.

"Yeah...more...more..." Lionel mumbled.

"I see you two are going to have lunch in the living room today." Alfred remarked to them.

"Uh-huh." Lionel nodded.

Alfred soon went to make them their lunch as they were lost in their own little cartoon world.

"Wow, these are amazing..." Lionel exclaimed.

"I don't wanna leave this spot..." Cherry said even though she sounded a little tired right now.

"Same here..." Lionel patted her arm.

They soon went back to their cartoon marathon and were soon given a variety of sandwiches and they ate them while watching TV.

"Children..." Alfred sighed. "I only hope that Master Bruce doesn't interrupt you while you watch your favorite characters get some magic mushrooms and save the princess in time away from the dinosaur king."

"That's Mario Bros., Alf." Cherry rolled her eyes.

"Also, Koopa is a turtle demon," Lionel replied. "Koopa, kappa, get it?"

"Oh, right, I see." Alfred then nodded, even if he didn't fully understand.

"And Kappa Mikey was just a nuisance." Cherry smirked playfully.

"Sure..." Lionel replied.

* * *

The two continued to watch more and more cartoons until Selina soon came for a surprise visit and Isis jumped onto Cherry's head.

"Wah!" Cherry yelped. "Cat on my head, cat on my head, cat on my head!"

"Huh?" Lionel asked, reaching for the cat.

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything." Selina said.

"Oh, uh, hi, S--... Aunt Selina." Cherry greeted bashfully.

"Not really," Lionel replied. "Also, hello."

"I'd just thought I'd see how it's going down here." Selina said as she looked around with Isis.

"It's going fine," Lionel replied. "We got a vampire cure, and now we're gonna take Fang-Face on himself tonight."

"By yourselves, huh?" Selina asked.

"It's the final countdown, Aunt Selina," Cherry said. "It's now or never."

"The ultimate clash to end all clashes," Lionel added. "The Dark Knight vs. The Prince of Darkness. A battle for the ages."

"Very interesting," Selina replied. "Well, Lionel, Kitten, you have my support of course."

"Thank you very much!" Lionel smiled.

"Yeah, thanks." Cherry added as she soon pet and stroked Isis in her lap.

"It's no problem." Selina replied.

Cherry gave a small smile to her aunt's support before hugging the woman.

* * *

Several hours later, Bruce came back home. "Suit up. We're going to the cemetery." he said.

Cherry soon jumped up into the air, to spring into action before holding her head. "Ooh... Too much candy and soda..." she said weakly. "I think I got up too fast."

Lionel helped her to her feet. "Here's an antacid." he replied, giving her a small tablet and a glass of water.

"Oh... Thank you..." Cherry said, accepting them and soon took a few deep breaths to relax herself.

"No problem." Lionel smiled.

"Okay... Let's get going then," Cherry said. "To my favorite hangout spot: The Cemetery."

"Oh, yeah," Lionel remembered. "I found you there last year when I was taking a walk around town."

"I know it seems creepy or scary, but cemeteries are quite relaxing to hang out around." Cherry said to him.

"Yeah, I get it," Lionel replied. "All the peace and quiet. Nothing really seems too creepy about that, to be honest."

"Well... Thank you!" Cherry beamed. "Not everyone really gets that."

"I try." Lionel replied. "Also... You have a beautiful smile."

"...Do not." Cherry replied, turning her head.

"Yes, you do, Kitten." Selina smiled to her niece.

"I'm just saying, with some people who don't smile too often it looks disturbing," replied Lionel. "But with you? It looks enchanting."

"Eh... I dunno about that, but thank you," Cherry shrugged as she felt awkward about her own smile. "Anyway, to the cemetery!" she then proclaimed.

"Want some company?" Selina smirked to Bruce.

"Erm... If you'd like to come along, sure." Bruce replied bashfully.

"Alright, then suit up, everybody," Lionel replied. "It's time to go Van Helsing style on this undead punk ass!"

The others soon nodded as they began to get ready for their new task. Once they were dressed up, they soon left for the Batmobile and made way for the graveyard.

* * *

Lightning and thunder rumbled through the sky as they arrived at the graveyard and rushed in.

Batman looked down, and saw foot-prints on the stones. "Joker's foot-prints..." he remarked, before seeing that they led into an opened tomb.

"That's where we must go." Lady Gothika said in a knowing tone.

They soon crept into the tomb as lightning flashed, highlighting their presence.

"So this is how Batman bypassed the crosiers." Batman remarked to himself.

"He was using the catacombs," Bat-Mite noted. "A clever move indeed..."

Batman soon led the way with the others following behind as it was all coming together.

"Remind me to show you Mina and the Count after this." Lady Gothika remarked to Bat-Mite.

"Duly noted!" Bat-Mite replied, holding a notepad and pen.

Bats soon screeched out as they flew by.

Lady Gothika looked up and one of them soon perched on her shoulder with a grin. "Going somewhere?" she then asked the bat.

The bat soon screeched to her as if to tell her something.

"Dracula's here? I can believe that." Lady Gothika replied in understanding.

"You can communicate with them?" Bat-Mite asked, his eyes gleaming. "That is SO FASCINATING~!"

"Oh, I never told you about that?" Lady Gothika replied. "Yeah, I sometimes talk with bats."

Bat-Mite's eyes sparkled. "Is it just me, or did you just get more awesome...?" he asked.

"I dunno, did I?" Lady Gothika shrugged as she gently pet the bat since it helped them.

"Yes!" Bat-Mite gushed, kneeling. "Yes, you DID!"

"Um, thank you?" Lady Gothika replied.

Catwoman gave a small smile to that as she watched the two.

Bat-Mite then sprang to his feet, now dressed in vampire hunting gear. "Just call me... Lionel Van Helsing!" he grinned.

"I'm not saying that." Lady Gothika deadpanned.

"Kitten..." Catwoman called.

"Sorry, I'm used to saying that to Atticus," Lady Gothika then said. "All right, Van Helsing it is."

"Alrighty then!" Bat-Helsing replied. "Let's hunt us a vampire count!"

"Come on then," Lady Gothika said. "Thanks for the help, Bat. We're getting closer."

The bat squeaked to her and soon flew off once he was done helping her.

"Will do!" Bat-Mite nodded they ventured further into the catacombs.

Someone in the shadows soon zipped by them.

"We are not alone." Catwoman soon glared.

"Oh, you got that right." Bat-Mite replied, keeping his weapons at the ready.

More and more shadows slunk behind them.

"Okay, that is enough!" Lady Gothika soon glared sharply.

* * *

Suddenly, a vampire leapt out and attacked Batman, who judo-flipped it over his shoulder.

"Yow!" Catwoman yelped.

"Well, that was unexpected." Lady Gothika blinked.

The vampire growled, trying to attack the Dark Knight only for him to inject the blood-sucking parasite who then fell to the floor with a struggling groan before reverting back into a human form.

"That's one Lost One reverted..." Bat-Mite noted. "...and a crapload more to go. Hope we got plenty of that stuff."

"We can only hope." Lady Gothika replied.

A big group of vampires soon surrounded them, groaning and growling.

"Oh, hello." Lady Gothika blinked to them.

Batman narrowed his eyes as he soon removed his cape to show that he was armed and ready for them.

"That's right, fuckers, we got enough for EVERYBODY!" Bat-Mite explained. "So BACK OFF... Or else, I'll use _this_!" he took out a large book, labeled _"The Twilight Saga, by Stephanie Meyer"_.

A bunch of the vampires hissed from the book.

"Hey, put down my emergency toilet paper!" Lady Gothika told Bat-Mite.

"Don't worry, the real one is at home, behind the toilet," Bat-Mite replied. "This is just a handy copy I made for bathroom emergencies."

"Well, it seems to be working." Lady Gothika smirked from the vampires who seemed horrified of the series known as Twilight.

" **THAT'S RIGHT, GET BACK! BACK, OR ELSE I'LL READ FROM THESE CURSED PAGES!** " Bat-Mite exclaimed dramatically, waving the book around.

"That should hold them off long enough until we can cure them all." Catwoman chuckled to herself.

And during the commotion, Batman managed to inject more and more of the vampires with the antidote.

"You're back..." Dracula's voice growled in Lady Gothika's head.

"Better believe it, bucko!" Bat-Mite replied. "And once we're done with your buddies, YOU'RE NEXT! One Lionel was responsible for your defeat in the past...and one will be responsible for your defeat now!"

"Ah, he's there too... Didn't you drain his blood dry?" Dracula asked Lady Gothika.

"Uh... Well... About that..." Lady Gothika chuckled sheepishly and bashfully.

"She did...but I survived! I was changed!" Bat-Mite exclaimed, flashing his fangs. "And I LOVED IT! I could feel the ABSOLUTE POWER SURGING THROUGH MY BODY!"

"I'm sorry, Baby Bat, but now you must be punished." Dracula said.

"I am not _YOUR_ BABY BAT!" Lady Gothika snapped.

"Yeah!" Bat-Mite growled as his eyes began to flash red.

"What do you say about this then?" Dracula replied as he soon began to manipulate Batman.

"No!" Catwoman cried out from that.


	7. Chapter 7

Batman struggled to resist, as his eyes turned red.

"You cannot win...no human can resist my will..." Dracula intoned.

Batman finally slumped to the ground, making the antidote flow out.

"Good boy..." Dracula smirked. "Once my bride has had her fill, I shall offer up your corpses as wedding presents."

A female victim soon flew up, hissing with fangs.

"Vicki?!" Lady Gothika asked once she saw the woman.

"He's trying to use her soul to bring back his evil vampire bride!" Bat-Mite exclaimed, before two monstrous wings sprouted from his back. "Ooh, that's a new one!"

Dracula soon laughed as Vicki was being drained so that he could marry the woman for himself.

But then suddenly, something in Batman's mind clicked, and soon, he stood triumphantly at full height.

"Atta boy, Bats!" Bat-Mite grinned, before he clutched his sides. "Ooh, boy... I think I know what the new power is..." he groaned.

"What's wrong?" Lady Gothika asked Bat-Mite.

"I think...I might...be...CHANGING...!" Bat-Mite groaned as his eyes became red, then his arms turned muscular, as his hands grew sharp talons on each finger.

"What's wrong with him?!" Lady Gothika asked.

"He seems to be transforming somehow." Catwoman said to her niece.

Bat-Mite groaned as he grew bigger, his teeth becoming razor-sharp fangs, and his cowl becoming more like an actual bat, until his transformation was completed, showing that he'd become a large Gargoyle-esque Bat-Monster.

"How very imposing... Kinda reminds me of something... Not sure what though." Lady Gothika diagnosed.

"I think we should stay out of this." Catwoman suggested.

"Oh, I can't look _that_ ugly now, can I?" asked Bat-Mite in a deep voice.

"Well... Uh... It's definitely a surprise makeover." Lady Gothika told Bat-Mite.

"It must've been a result of the bite," Bat-Mite replied. "I like it! I feel faster, stronger...improved!"

"I'm not sure how I feel about this." Lady Gothika whispered about Bat-Mite's transformation.

"Hang on...lemme try something," Bat-Mite replied, before he began to concentrate, then glowed bright blue before he changed back to his normal form.

"There's the old Bat-Mite I know and lo-... Am very close to." Lady Gothika replied.

Bat-Mite smiled. "I'll take what I can get," he replied. "You can say it when you're good and ready."

Lady Gothika shrugged to herself, but everyone knew deep down it was due to happen sooner or later.

"Now... Allow me to take care of you..." Dracula hissed to Bat-Mite.

"No thanks, buddy boy." Bat-Mite replied, aiming a wrist gun with a wooden stake at him.

"This can't end well." Dracula mumbled in dismay.

Bat-Mite shot the stake gun at Dracula, point-blank. Lady Gothika covered her own eyes, though Dracula deserved it, she didn't think she would be willing to watch this.

"Clever shot..." Dracula admitted to Bat-Mite.

"Thanks, I try." Bat-Mite replied.

"Sorry... I know he deserves this, but I don't think I can bear to watch." Lady Gothika said as she buried her face against her Aunt Catwoman.

"That's fair." Catwoman replied, patting LG on the back.

"Looks like this wedding... Is CANCELLED." Bat-Mite remarked.

Dracula soon fell flat and he soon died from the stake in his heart as it was a well-known way to kill off a vampire. And with that, the lady vampire's evil spirit vanished into nothingness.

"I just murdered the ultimate evil vampire..." Bat-Mite realized. "KICK-ASS!"

"Someone should make a movie on this." Lady Gothika gave a small, humoring smirk.

"Maybe they will, and maybe they won't," Bat-Mite replied. "But we can talk scripts and casting later. Let's get Miss Vale home."

"Yes..." Batman said to them. "I think she's had enough excitement for one night."

Bat-Mite perked up an ear. "And I think the police took care of Penguin."

"Even better in my book." Catwoman smirked to that.

The citizens who were soon freed from the vampire's curse came out and this was reported on the news.

* * *

"Tonight Gotham breathes a sigh of relief; the Lost Ones have been found," said a reporter. "It seems Penguin was behind a bizarre plot to use the hostages to recover a missing mob treasure. Details remain sketchy due to a sort of amnesia inflicted on the hostages. Apparently some sort of hypnosis, but the hostages ARE safe and sound. And it seems that The Batman was unfairly blamed for Penguin's crimes. It looks like we can safely swap his status back from villain to vigilante."

"IT WAS VAMPIRES, I TELL YA!" Penguin yelled out as he was being carried off. "VAMPIRES! WITH BIG, HONKIN' FANGS!"

The authorities soon sent him away in a van to take him back to where he belonged.

"Good thing they kept Penguin's padded nest warm back in Arkham Asylum," The reporter chuckled. "Now, here's a twist: instead of covering the news, this reporter Vicki Vale, has been apart of it. See any vampires, Vicki?"

Vicki looked up at the rooftop, then back to the microphone. "...Just bats." she replied.

Batman soon flew off with his Bat-Family into the night after another case was solved and taken care of in Gotham City.

"I can definitely say that things aren't gonna work out between you and Ms. Vale," Bat-Mite replied. "What with you always having to break off dates to suit up and kick butts."

"Boy, doesn't that sound like some of my best friend's stories?" Lady Gothika replied, referring to Atticus of course whenever he would visit Metropolis to help Superman.

"I wouldn't know, considering I haven't met him yet." Bat-Mite replied.

"You both do have a point," Batman replied. "I guess Vicki Vale wasn't the right girl for me. I had fun with her though while I could, but I don't think she's gonna last long."

"Hmm... I think I can vouch for that~" Catwoman purred.

"That's what we've been saying!" Bat-Mite replied. "Just go with whomever feels right...perhaps someone who _also_ has the experience of dressing as a nocturnal creature and going out every night?"

"I'll think about it." Batman smirked playfully before he glanced to Catwoman from his suggestion.

Bat-Mite nodded. "I think it worked~!" he whispered.

"Sure looks like it, buddy." Lady Gothika winked.

"On the bright side, now you can rest easy, LG." Batman comforted his goddaughter.

Bat-Mite beamed at that.


	8. Chapter 8

They soon came back to Wayne Manor and Cherry looked ready to go back home in the morning and Lionel had packed himself a suitcase to go with her.

"Well, that's everything," Cherry said. "The bus leaves first thing tomorrow morning for back home."

"And we'll both be on it," Lionel replied.

Alfred soon handed Cherry a container. "For your leftovers."

"Ah, thanks, Alfred," Cherry said, accepting it. "You're cool for a mortal butler." she then chuckled, referencing her favorite anime which was about a demon butler and his misadventures with his young master.

"Yeah... Whatever that means!" Lionel smiled.

"I've made you some chicken with rice and vegetables from the oven how you like it, Miss Cherry." Alfred said.

"Again, thanks," Cherry said. "Don't tell my mom, but yours is a bit better than hers."

"Your secret is safe with me." Alfred replied.

"He's cool." Cherry said with a small smirk to Lionel about Alfred.

"So I've noticed." Lionel replied.

* * *

**_Later..._ **

Cherry collected a bunch of food to fit into her container to take home with her since today was her last day in Gotham until the next visit.

Lionel poofed in. "You almost ready?" he asked.

"Just wanna make sure I get enough to fill the container." Cherry replied.

"Smart idea." Lionel nodded.

Cherry licked her lips hungrily as she soon sealed the container, getting plenty of chicken.

"I packed plenty of snacks for myself as well." Lionel replied, patting his backpack.

Bruce and Selina came out to them.

"Well, we better get going." Cherry said.

"Have a nice ride and flight back home." Bruce smiled to Cherry.

"We will," Cherry replied.

"And Bruce, Selina... Don't do anything I wouldn't do~!" Lionel grinned.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Bruce chuckled before hugging Cherry goodbye. "See you two later."

"See ya." Cherry said before hugging Selina next.

Lionel then hugged the both of them. "Take care, you two." he smiled.

"Take care," Selina smiled back. "See you next time."

"Same here," Lionel replied. "I can't wait to see the world!"

Eventually, Alfred took them for a ride in the limo to take them to the airport to get back home. Lionel glanced out the windows, gazing at the stuff outside.

"Goodbye, Gotham... Let's hope the next adventure is a bit lighter and softer." Cherry said on the way back home.

"Yeah, same here." Lionel agreed.

They soon came on the plane and rode out of Gotham to go back home, falling asleep on the way back home.

* * *

And once more, we enter Lionel's dream, where he sits in one of the castle towers, looking out into the night.

"You look so lonesome... I should give you some company." A voice said which was Cherry in a flowing black dress, holding a rose in her fingertips.

Lionel looked back in surprise and did a double-take. "WHOA!" he exclaimed. "Well... I would appreciate that very much..."

Cherry soon came beside Lionel, holding out the rose to him as a gesture of kindness.

Lionel took it with a smile. "Thanks." he replied.

"Sure thing," Cherry said. "I thought you could use it like on _The Bachelorette_... From what I see from that show anyway, I don't really follow it much."

"Eh, neither do I," Lionel replied. "It always looked boring to me."

Cherry soon looked out over the rooftop with him as they admired how beautiful the landscape looked.

"This is a pretty great view." Lionel remarked.

"Very nice..." Cherry nodded. "I love the view at night... Feels more atmospheric than during the day."

Lionel nodded in agreement. "Say... Wanna go for a fly?" he asked.

"Sure thing," Cherry winked. "We can soar and fly better than Troy and Gabriella. Hope you're not too crazy about _High School Musical._ "

"Of course not, I hate that movie." Lionel replied.

"You do have good taste." Cherry smirked with a bash to the beloved Disney movie, to mostly preteenage girls who had crushes on Zac Efron or Corbin Bleu.

"Hey, I try." Lionel shrugged with a smile.

* * *

They soon took off to fly together.

"Every time I fly like this, I can't help but think about Thumbelina." Cherry said while in the air.

"Really? How so?" asked Lionel as he did a few loops in the air.

"Well, you know, Prince Cornelius is a fairy and Thumbelina wants to fly with him." Cherry replied from childhood nostalgia.

"Oh..." Lionel replied. "That makes sense, I suppose."

"You have so much to learn if you wanna hang out with me." Cherry smirked playfully.

"Well, I got all the time in the world, and I'm willing to learn it all." Lionel replied.

"Might take a while, but get comfy if you know what's good for you." Cherry smirked.

"Can do!" Lionel saluted.

They soon continued to fly around for a while. Cherry hummed the Superman theme for the heck of it, even if she didn't really like the Man of Steel _that_ much.

Lionel dipped and swished as Cherry hummed. "Eh, Superman's alright, but John Williams' theme for him is EPIC!" he remarked.

"I'm not a Superman fan, but I have to agree." Cherry replied.

"Who knows what amazing adventures await us as we venture to Greendale?~" Lionel said dramatically.

"It's always a mystery, that's for sure." Cherry smirked a bit.

"Well, I'm more than eager to solve it with you!" Lionel replied.

"Heh, good spirit." Cherry chuckled a bit.

"I suppose you could say that." Lionel replied as they flew through the clear, moonlit night sky.

"This also makes me think a bit of Never Land." Cherry then said while still flying.

"I've... Never-Been," Lionel quipped. "Perhaps I could visit?"

"I dunno, it depends on if Peter Pan comes to see me again or not." Cherry replied.

"Hmm... Well, I guess we can wait until then." replied Lionel.

"Just enjoy the flight... The relaxing, calm, and peaceful night with the wonderful flight." Cherry comforted.

Lionel agreed as they flew about in the clear, moonlit skies. It was a wonderful night just for the two of them without worries or cares in the world. And despite their adventurous lifestyles, there would be plenty more to come for the both of them.

The End


End file.
